Linde surges on reports of talks with Praxair

Germany’s Linde AG surged on Tuesday following reports the company was in talks with US industrial gas supplier Praxair Inc about combining the businesses.

The Wall Street Journal which was first to report the news, cited people familiar with the matter as saying that the talks were fragile and could fall apart.

In addition, even if a deal was reached, there is no guarantee that antitrust regulators would approve it.

The Financial Times cited sources briefed on the matter as saying that the deal – which would create the world’s largest supplier of industrial gas with a combined market capitalisation of more than $60bn – is still being negotiated. It was understood that both sides were at least a few weeks away from reaching an agreement.

According to Reuters, one person familiar with the matter said Praxair was considering a takeover of Linde, while other sources suggested Linde was pushing for a merger of equals.

At 1445 BST, Linde shares were up 8.2% to €150.80.