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EU: Linde and Praxair agree $70bn merger terms

By  |  May 24, 2017

Linde and Praxair agreed on a blueprint for their $35 billion combination, leaving the fate of the proposed deal in the hands of a divided Linde supervisory board that derailed the plan for the merger of the industrial gas suppliers once before.

Teams from both companies put together a so-called business combination agreement, though there is no assurance the document will result in a transaction, Munich-based Linde said in a statement Wednesday.

The companies announced a preliminary deal in December, and Linde’s board is scheduled to decide whether to proceed next week. Praxair’s board also needs to approve the agreement, the Danbury, Connecticut-based company said.

Having agreed on the finer points of the plan to create the world’s largest producer of industrial gases, chief dealmaker and Linde Chairman Wolfgang Reitzle now has to run the gauntlet of Linde’s 12 directors who are split over the proposal.

Full Content: Financial Times

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