Join +750K new investors every month who copy stock picks from billionaire's portfoliosSign Up Free

Linde shares seen up after boards agree Praxair merger

Published 02/06/2017, 07:44
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A truck operated by Germany's Linde Group waits for helium to be loaded at Weil Group's helium plant near Mankota
DE40
-
LING
-
Praxair Inc
-

WUERZBURG, Germany (Reuters) - Shares in Germany's Linde (DE:LING) looked set to top the blue-chip DAX (GDAXI) index on Friday after the company's boards agreed a $73 billion merger with U.S. peer Praxair (N:PX) to create the world's biggest industrial gases group.

After a failed attempt at a tie-up last year that led to the departure of Linde's two top executives, Chairman Wolfgang Reitzle managed to stop labour representatives from blocking the deal in a marathon supervisory board meeting on Thursday.

Shares in Linde were indicated to open 1.4 percent higher, against a DAX blue-chip index (GDAXI) seen up 0.6 percent. Praxair shares hit a record high on Thursday after the agreement was announced.

The deal still has to be approved by a majority of Praxair investors at a shareholder meeting, while 75 percent of Linde shareholders must tender their shares to the new company for the merger to go through.

"We expect a tender offer in August 2017," DZ Bank analyst Peter Spengler wrote in a note, keeping his "hold" rating.

Praxair Chief Executive Steve Angel said he was confident that any anti-trust remedies imposed would be "manageable".

He added that he was keen to keep Linde's plant-engineering unit, which is less profitable than the two companies' main industrial gases business.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A truck operated by Germany's Linde Group waits for helium to be loaded at Weil Group's helium plant near Mankota

"You cannot be a leading industrial gas company unless you have a strong engineering and technology arm," he told journalists on a conference call ahead of a news conference scheduled for 0900 GMT in Munich.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.