Linde-Praxair merger faces hurdle

Bloomberg

A $42 billion merger to create what would become the world’s largest gas producer is facing an unexpected hurdle from the US antitrust regulator that could derail the deal.
The Federal Trade Commission indicated it wants Germany’s Linde AG and Praxair Inc. to sell more assets before it approves their deal, Linde said in a statement to the markets.
The company noted a “higher likelihood” that the requirement may push total asset disposals to beyond the acceptable threshold outlined in the merger deal.
That agreement sets limits on the assets the companies are willing to jettison in return for regulatory clearance.
Under the deal, the units to be sold must have annual sales of less than $4.3 billion or income before interest, depreciation of less than 1.1. billion euros.
Last month, Linde announced the sale of North American businesses with combined 2017 revenue of about $1.7 billion.
A few days earlier, Linde and Praxair agreed to sell a raft of industrial-gas plants in Europe to a Japanese competitor.
They indicated at the time that additional sales may be necessary to get final approval from regulators.
“Linde was informed that the US Federal Trade Commission has expressed expectations with regard to additional divestiture commitments and the respective buyers that are seen as necessary” to approve the deal, Linde said in the statement.
“The talks with the FTC about the necessary divestiture commitments are being continued with the aim to achieve an acceptable outcome for all involved.”
Under German security laws, publicly listed companies must inform capital markets about potentially market-moving information as soon as possible to forestall the possibility of insider trading.
A spokesman for Linde declined to comment further on the matter.
Linde and Praxair have set October 24 to complete the deal.