Linde, Praxair Offload More US Assets

Linde and Praxair are said to be inching closer to gaining US regulatory approval for their merger as they look to sell additional assets to Messer Group and CVC Capital Partners to allay antitrust concerns, according to Bloomberg news agency quoting people familiar with the matter.

The assets are said to be worth around $200 million and comprise three air separation plants, a carbon dioxide plant, a liquid argon contract and two depots.

Although no official decision has been made, CVC and Messer have received positive signals from the FTC for buying the additional assets, Bloomberg reported.

The Messer-CVC consortium already agreed in July to buy most of Linde’s bulk gases businesses in the US and all of its operations in Canada, Brazil and Colombia for $3.3 billion.

Linde and Praxair agreed to merge in December 2016 but the deal allows either party to walk away if regulators require asset divestments with combined sales of more than $4.4 billion. Linde has warned previously that the FTC’s demands had become more onerous and the required divestments were threatening to breach the agreed level.

Another Linde plant in LaPorte, Texas, will be sold at a later stage, as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has reportedly consented to give the merger partners more time.

 The two companies have a deadline of Oct. 24 set by German financial market regulations to complete the deal.