DANBURY, Conn., Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Two industrial gas giants that used to be one company until 24 years ago, Praxair and Linde, announced Monday they have broken off their $60 billion merger talks.
On Aug. 16, U.S.-based Praxair and Linde of Germany -- each worth around $30 billion -- announced they were in preliminary discussions for a possible merger.
"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," Linde said in a statement Monday.
Praxair confirmed in a one-sentence statement merger talks "have terminated."
Two sources told The Wall Street Journal that Linde's leadership felt its Munich headquarters would have lost too many key functions.
They had agreed on a 50/50 exchange ratio with Praxair's Steve Angel running the company, which would have been based in its headquarters in Danbury, Conn., both sources said.
Praxair was founded as Linde's U.S. subsidiary in 1907 and was known as Linde Air Products Co. In 1917, joined with four other chemical companies under the name Union Carbide Corp.. In 1989 it was spun off as a subsidiary called Praxair -- from the Greek "praxis," or practical applications, and air. Union Carbide is now part of Dow Chemical Co.
Praxair, a Fortune 300 company with 26,000 employees and 2015 sales of $11 billion, sells and distributes atmospheric, process and specialty gases, and surface coatings.
Linde, which makes industrial and medical gases, and builds plants for chemical producers and others, was founded in Germany. With 64,500 employees, it had revenue in 2015 of $20.15 billion. It acquired British competitor, The Boc Group, in 2006.
