US: Linde, Praxair get another antitrust request from FTC

Linde and Praxair said late on Monday, August 28, they were responding to a second request from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding their planned US$74 billion merger and were in a pre-notification phase with the European Commission.

The German and US industrial gases groups said in a US regulatory filing they still expected the all-share merger of equals, which is subject to antitrust review in approximately 24 jurisdictions, to close in the second half of 2018.

“This is a typical step in review of a transaction of this size, and was expected,” Linde said of the second request from the FTC.

The deal will create a global leader to overtake France’s Air Liquide with a combined market value of US$74 billion, revenue of US$28.7 billion and 88,000 staff.

The two companies said they had submitted notifications to antitrust authorities in China, India and South Korea in mid-August, and planned to make formal filings in Brazil, Canada, Mexico and Russia in mid-September.

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