Linde Stock Dips On Termination Of Merger Talks With Praxair

(RTTNews) - Shares of German industrial gases producer Linde AG (LNAGF.PK, LNEGY.PK) were losing around 8 percent in the morning trading after the announcement of the termination of preliminary discussions with Praxair, Inc. (PX), regarding a potential merger.

In a statement, Linde said its shareholder representatives in the supervisory board, in consensus with the CEO of Linde recommended termination of merger talks with Praxair. The U.S. company also confirmed the termination of talks.

"While the strategic rationale of a merger has been principally confirmed, discussions about details, specifically about Governance aspects, did not result in a mutual understanding," the company said in its statement.

It was on August 16 that the companies confirmed that they were in preliminary discussions for a potential merger, and that there can be no assurance that they will result in a transaction, or on what terms any transaction may occur.

Bloomberg repoted, citing people with knowledge of the matter, that the companies failed to agree on the role of Munich, Linde's headquarters, would play in a combined company on issues including jobs and responsibilities.

A deal would have combined companies each worth about $30 billion and created the world's largest supplier of industrial gases. It would have ranked as one of the largest tie-ups in a strong year for mergers.

According to Bloomberg, a successful tie-up would have reunited the U.S. industrial gas business with the German company it created more than a century ago. Praxair was started in 1907 by Carl von Linde, who helped found the company that bears his name.

In Germany, Linde shares were trading at 137.55 euros, down 7.63 percent.