Siemens is buying Houston-based Dresser-Rand in a $7.6 billion deal that will help the German company to boost its oil and gas business in North America.

Dresser-Rand ranks among the world’s largest suppliers of custom-engineered rotating-equipment solutions; it manufactures oilfield equipment for the global oil, gas, petrochemical and process industries. It has manufacturing facilities in France, the UK, Spain, India, Brazil and the USA. Under this new deal, it will become “the platform for oil and gas equipment solutions within Siemens”.

Siemens says that its $83-a-share bid has been unanimously supported by Dresser-Rand’s board, and it hopes that the transaction will be completed by next summer. The deal gives Siemens access to the US oil industry at a time when a drilling boom for oil in North America has led to higher demand for energy services and equipment.

Lisa Davis, a member of the Siemens board, said: “Our aim is to become the leading integrator of rotating equipment and process systems for the oil and gas industry. Dresser-Rand has a strong presence in oil and gas, a reputation for technology leadership and innovation, and a talented and experienced leadership team.

"Our intention is to leverage these strengths by maintaining the existing company and brand name and selectively moving complementary products and services from the existing Siemens portfolio into Dresser-Rand, enabling us to offer a much broader range of products, services and solutions to meet our customers’ needs.”