Dresser Industries was a multinational corporation headquartered in Dallas, Texas, United States, which provided a wide range of technology, products, and services used for developing energy and natural resources.
Under Mallon, Dresser began a program of acquisitions designed to help it survive the threat posed to its core business by the introduction of welding for joining pipes together.
They were made aware of the potential to acquire the Magnet Cove Barium Corporation of Houston, Texas, the nation's second-largest producer of barite drilling mud.
When it was learned that all of the Magnet Cove Barium's common stock could be acquired for $2.8 million in cash, the directors of Dresser quickly, without hesitation, approved the transaction on October 28, 1949.
It continued to purchase well-known companies involved in manufacturing such things as overhead cranes, gasoline-dispensing pumps, and heavy equipment for mining and construction.
PGAC's expertise in openhole logging and its international operations made it an ideal merger partner to form an integrated wireline services company.
[11] In 1984 the company acquired the earthmoving and mining product lines from American Standard's WABCO division,[12] for a bargain price of $66.3 million.
[13] On January 1, 1987, Dresser Industries and Ingersoll-Rand merged their common businesses to form Dresser-Rand Group with headquarters in Corning, New York.
[4] In 1994, the company expanded through acquisitions of Wheatley TXT (a manufacturer of pumps, valves, and metering equipment) and the Baroid Corporation (an oil-services firm in Houston that had been a direct competitor).
To comply with federal antitrust regulations, Dresser sold off its interest in M-I Drilling Fluids Company and Western Atlas International.
In February 2011, General Electric Co. agreed to buy oil-field equipment maker Dresser Inc. for $3 billion, expanding its biggest industrial unit.
The Dresser brand sells, services, and supports products that include: actuators, valves, meters, instruments, regulators, switches, natural gas-fueled engines, piping specialties, retail and fleet fuel dispensers, blowers, and point-of-sale systems.