Saudis hold oil conferenceMore VideosLONDON (AP) -- U.S. oil services company Halliburton Co. gave up its pursuit of Expro International Group PLC on Monday, after the British company stuck by its support for a rival bid and refused to open an auction.Halliburton (HAL, Fortune 500) revealed it had raised its all-cash offer to 1,625 pence ($31.91), or £1.82 billion pounds ($3.6 billion) on Friday - topping the 1,615 pence ($31.72), or 1.8 billion pound ($3.5 billion) approach from a private equity consortium led by Candover Group.
Expro (EXPRF) has already recommended that shareholders accept that offer from Umbrellastream Ltd., and is holding meetings on Monday and Wednesday for final approval of the deal.
Halliburton's sweetened offer had been dependent on the British oil field contractor delaying those meetings and agreeing to hold a meeting to put both offers to shareholders instead.
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