Connecticut, October 23 – Neftegaz.RU. Praxairt and Linde announced that the final closing conditions for the merger of equals between the companies were satisfied after the European Commission approved the buyer of Praxair’s divestment business in Europe and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) provided merger clearance of the business combination in the United States.
The parties expect the transaction to close on October 31, 2018. Under the terms of an agreement with the FTC, neither Linde AG nor Praxair will integrate any of their commercial operations until certain U.S. based assets are divested.
Based on 2017 reported results, the combination will create a company with pro forma revenues of approximately $27 billion, and a market capitalisation of approximately $90 billion.
Shareholders will benefit from the new company’s solid balance sheet and strong cash flow that offers the financial flexibility to invest in future growth. Furthermore, Linde expects to achieve significant shareholder value through the realization of expected targeted annual synergies and cost efficiencies in the range of $1.1 to 1.2 billion to be achieved over approximately 3 years.
