French firm Compagnie Generale de Geophysique has agreed to buy US rival Veritas DGC turning it into the world's biggest provider of oilfield services.
Geophysique, which carries out seismic searches to find oil and gas deposits, will pay $3.1bn.
The deal will be financed through a mixture of cash and shares.
Geophysique has been expanding as oil companies step up their efforts to find crude in order to replenish supplies and benefit from record price levels.
Companies such as BP and Shell have said that they are looking to boost the amount of new oil they are finding as global demand increases and resources become scarcer in a highly competitive industry, BBC World reports.
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French Oil Service Firm Takes Over American One
Geophysique, which carries out seismic searches to find oil and gas deposits, will pay $3.1bn
