FRANKFURT/MUNICH (Reuters) - Labour representatives on Linde's (DE:LING) supervisory board may not vote unanimously against the German industrial gases group's planned $73 billion (£56.5 billion) merger with U.S. peer Praxair (N:PX), three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
"It seems there is not complete unity at the moment," one of the people said on Wednesday ahead of the supervisory board meeting on Thursday morning.
German labour representatives have fiercely opposed the merger, which will dilute their influence by situating the headquarters of the new company outside Germany.
But one of the labour representatives on the board - who represents workers at a Dresden plant that is vulnerable to closure if the deal does not go through - has not committed to voting against it, the person said.
The representative, Frank Sonntag, did not want to comment on the coming supervisory board meeting, his secretary said.