GE Oil & Gas could announce $30bn merger deal with Baker Hughes on 31 October

General Electric's oil and gas unit is close to signing a merger deal with Baker Hughes, one of the world's largest oil field services companies.

This deal, which could be worth approximately $30bn (£24.61bn), could be announced as early as Monday (31 October), according to reports.

The American conglomerate GE is considering to combine its own oil and gas operations with Texas-based, Baker Hughes.

GE had confirmed the same in a statement last week and said, "We are in discussion with Baker Hughes on potential partnerships. While nothing is concluded, none of these options include an outright purchase."

According to the websites of both companies, GE and Baker Hughes are hosting an investor webcast on Monday at 8.30am ET. However, more details such as the topic of discussion and speakers involved were not mentioned.

Unnamed sources cited by the Wall Street Journal further said that GE would contribute cash to the newly-merged entity, which would have publicly traded shares. The new entity will be majority-owned and controlled by GE, the sources noted.

There is no guarantee that the deal would go through as it could face the same regulation issues that scuppered Halliburton's $35bn attempt to acquire Baker Hughes in May 2016.