Linde chief expects Praxair merger agreement in weeks

Munich

THE chairman of German industrial gases group Linde expects its merger agreement with US peer Praxair to be finalised within weeks, he told Reuters, reiterating his determination to get the deal done despite union opposition.

Negotiations to create a global leader with a market value of about US$70 billion have made slower progress than hoped, owing to what Linde has characterised as "legal complexity" in the face of unexpected resistance from trade unions and other labour representatives.