Praxair, Inc. was an American worldwide industrial gases company. Founded in 1907, Praxair was the largest industrial gases company in North and South America, and the third-largest worldwide by revenue. In 2018 it merged with Linde AG to form Linde plc. The Praxair name was discontinued on September 1, 2020 in the US.[3]

Praxair, Inc.
Company typeSubsidiary
NYSE: PX
IndustryChemicals
Founded1907; 117 years ago (1907)
FounderCarl von Linde
HeadquartersDanbury, Connecticut, United States
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Steve Angel
(chairman, president, & CEO)
ProductsIndustrial gases
RevenueIncrease US$11.437 billion (2017)
Increase US$2.448 billion (2017)
Decrease US$1.237 billion (2017)
Total assetsIncrease US$20.436 billion
Total equityIncrease US$6.018 billion
Number of employees
26,461 (January 2020)
ParentLinde plc
Websitewww.praxair.com
Footnotes / references
[1] [2]

History

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Stock certificate of the Linde Air Products Company, issued on December 13, 1911, registered to Dr. Carl von Linde and endorsed by him in his own hand on the reverse side

The company was founded by Carl von Linde as Linde Air Products Company in 1907. During the First World War, however, it was confiscated and in 1917, it joined with 4 other chemical companies under the name Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation, while maintaining a separate identity.[4] Its degree of independence waxed and waned over the years, and in 1992, it was spun off as a subsidiary, Union Carbide Industrial Gases Inc., and renamed to Praxair when it became a formally independent company three years later.[5] The name is derived from a combination of the Greek word "praxis", or practical application, and "air", the company's primary raw material.[6]

In August 2016 it was publicly announced that the American Praxair was in official negotiations to merge with the German Linde Group, which would form the world's largest gas supplier.[7][8][9][10] The following month in September negotiations were halted and suspended indefinitely.[11][12][13][14] By mid December 2016 Praxair had resumed negotiations with Linde for a potential merger.[15][16][17][18][19] In late December 2016 an official announcement was made that Praxair had reached an agreement to merge with Linde in a deal valued at $35 billion[20] with an overall merger value of $65 billion.[21] In April, 2017 Linde again rejected a request, from German private-investor association DSW, for a shareholder vote at its annual general meeting in May.[21] Nonetheless in May 2017, both companies reached a deal, in principle, for an all-share merger of equals valued at $75 billion,[22] to form a new holding company.[23] In early June 2017, both companies agreed to the merger.[24] US regulatory approval was obtained in October 2018,[25] after which the financial transaction was completed. As part of this merger, Praxair's European business was sold to Taiyo Nippon Sanso and rebranded Nippon Gases Europe. Upon completion of merger, it formed a new American German company Linde plc domiciled in Ireland and headquartered in Surrey for tax purposes.[26][27][28]

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References

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  1. ^ "FORM 10-K". sec.gov. 2018-02-28.
  2. ^ "Praxair, Inc. 2017 Annual Report (Form 10-K)". sec.gov. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. January 2018.
  3. ^ "Praxair Announces Name Change to Linde". Food Industry Executive. August 13, 2020.
  4. ^ "Praxair, Inc." International Directory of Company Histories. Ed. Paula Kepos. Vol. 11. Detroit: St. James Press, 1995. 402-404
  5. ^ "History".
  6. ^ "2007 Annual Report" (PDF).
  7. ^ Fontanella-Khan, James; Massoudi, Arash (16 August 2016). "Praxair makes move for German rival Linde". ft.com. Archived from the original on 2022-12-11. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  8. ^ Iwasaki, Mariko (16 August 2016). "Praxair in Talks to Acquire Germany's Linde". TheStreet. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  9. ^ Stone, Mike; Hack, Jens (16 August 2016). "UPDATE 3-Gas supplier Praxair opens talks to buy Germay's [sic] Linde". CNBC. Archived from the original on 2016-09-13. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  10. ^ Stone, Mike; Hack, Jens (16 August 2016). "Gas suppliers Praxair, Linde hold merger talks". Reuters. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  11. ^ Henning, Eyk. "Praxair, Linde call a halt to merger talks".
  12. ^ Arash Massoudi (September 12, 2016). "Praxair, Linde terminate $60bn merger after Linde disagreement". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 2022-12-11.
  13. ^ Henning, Eyk (12 September 2016). "Praxair and Linde Call Off $60 Billion Merger Talks". Wall Street Journal – via www.wsj.com.
  14. ^ Sassard, Jens Hack (12 September 2017). "Linde, Praxair end $60 billion merger talks". Reuters.
  15. ^ Henning, Eyk (7 December 2016). "Linde Resumes Merger Talks With Praxair". Wall Street Journal – via www.wsj.com.
  16. ^ Vielma, Antonio José (29 November 2016). "Praxair reapproaches Linde to resume merger talks: Report". CNBC.
  17. ^ "Linde CEO Resigns, Praxair Talks to Resume". 7 December 2016.
  18. ^ Bray, Chad (7 December 2016). "Linde of Germany to Resume Merger Talks With Praxair". The New York Times.
  19. ^ "Linde Accepts Praxair's Offer to Resume Merger Talks". 8 December 2016.
  20. ^ "Praxair to Buy Linde for $35 Billion in Industrial-Gas Deal". Bloomberg. 20 December 2016 – via www.bloomberg.com.
  21. ^ a b Editorial, Reuters (11 April 2017). "Linde rejects request to vote on Praxair merger at AGM". Reuters. Archived from the original on April 11, 2017. {{cite news}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  22. ^ Poltz, Georgina Prodhan (2 June 2017). "Linde turns to winning over investors to Praxair merger". Reuters. Archived from the original on June 2, 2017.
  23. ^ "Potential Merger - The Linde Group". Archived from the original on 2017-05-19. Retrieved 2017-06-02.
  24. ^ Poltz, Georgina Prodhan (June 2017). "Linde, Praxair agree $73 billion merger to create global gases leader". Reuters.[dead link]
  25. ^ "A new leader crowned: Praxair and Linde to complete $90bn merger of equals". 22 October 2018.
  26. ^ "The New Linde".
  27. ^ "Linde PLC Announces Satisfaction of Final Conditions to Close Business Combination between Linde AG and Praxair".
  28. ^ "Praxair Europe turns into Nippon Gases Europe". Process Technology Online. May 7, 2019.
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