Linde and Praxair abandon merger talks

INDUSTRIAL GASES majors Praxair and Linde have called off talks to negotiate a merger.

German firm Linde confirmed that it was in preliminary talks with its US competitor Praxair in August, after the Wall Street Journal broke the story. The two companies would have created the world’s largest industrial gas company – worth around US$60bn – had they merged. Sources told the Wall Street Journal the companies had agreed on a 50:50 share exchange ratio. However, a final agreement could not be reached.

“While the strategic rationale of a merger has been principally confirmed, discussions about details, specifically about governance aspects, did not result in a mutual understanding,” said Linde in a statement.

Had the merger gone ahead, it would have been the second such deal between major industrial gas companies within the past 12 months. In November 2015, Air Liquide agreed a deal to buy Airgas for US$13.4bn.