Linde Rises After Moving Closer to $45 Billion Praxair Deal

(Bloomberg) -- Linde AG shares rose after the German supplier of industrial gases took another step toward a long-anticipated $45 billion tie-up with rival Praxair Inc.

Remaining holders -- those who didn’t agree to accept stock in the new combined company -- will be paid 188.24 euros a share in cash if the deal goes through, the Munich-based company said in a statement Monday. About 8 percent of Linde shares weren’t tendered and the compensation value was determined by an outside expert, the company said.

Linde shares rose 1.5 percent in Frankfurt trading to 205.50 euros at 5:15 p.m. in Frankfurt, while untendered shares jumped 5.1 percent to 183 euros.

The period to tender shares in the deal ended almost a year ago. Since then, the companies have been working to win regulatory approval.

They’re now waiting for clearance from the Federal Trade Commission in the U.S. ahead of an Oct. 24 deadline to close the transaction. Approval from the FTC is the last major obstacle after they got a conditional nod in August from the European Union. The companies had agreed to sell Praxair’s entire gas business in Europe as well as its stake in an Italian joint venture and several helium sourcing contracts.

Linde and Praxair began talks for a tie-up in 2016 but they collapsed within months, leading to the departure of top executives. They were rekindled, although hit up against a series of hurdles including opposition from unions, shareholder skepticism and tough demands from antitrust regulators.

To contact the reporters on this story: Tara Patel in Paris at tpatel2@bloomberg.net;Oliver Sachgau in Munich at osachgau@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net, Phil Serafino

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