Linde to sell more US assets to Messer to gain merger approval

摘要

Linde is negotiating to sell about $200-million worth of additional assets in the United States to Messer Group and CVC Capital Partners in an effort to secure US Federal Trade Commission(FTC) approval for Linde's $82-billion merger with Praxair, according to a Reuters report quoting a person familiar with the matter. The Messer-CVC consortium has already agreed to buy the majority of Linde's bulk gases business in the United States and all of its operations in Canada, Brazil, and Colombia for $3.3 billion. The additional US operations to be sold include three air separation units(ASUs), a liquid-argon contract, a carbon dioxide facility, and two depots, Bloomberg quoted people with knowledge of the situation as saying. Another Linde site at La Porte, Texas, which includes the company's largest ASU in the United States and synthesis gas facilities, will be sold at a later stage, because the FTC has reportedly agreed to give the merger partners more time for the transaction. Linde, Messer, and CVC declined to comment on the latest reports.