Linde: towards in-depth investigation by the Commission
(CercleFinance.com) - Linde, the German industrial and medical gases giant, yesterday said that its mega-merger project with the US group Praxair will probably face a "harder" resistance from the Commission's European competition authority.
Both groups expect the imposition of compensatory measures that are "more expensive than expected," i.e. mainly required disposals. Even though the latter should not, according to ongoing discussions, exceed the limits of sales and EBITDA that are provided for by the merger agreements. Namely, a Parisian analyst says, "the sale of assets representing up to 3.7 billion dollars in sales or 1.1 billion euros in EBITDA".
In addition, according to Linde and Praxair, the European Commission is expected to launch an in-depth (so-called Phase II) investigation into the operation, presumably by 16 February. Being usual for a project of this size, the Phase II procedure usually ends within 90 days of its opening.
Meanwhile, Linde and Praxair are continuing to discuss with the authorities and still hope to finalise the merger in the second half of 2018.
Copyright (c) 2018 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.
Both groups expect the imposition of compensatory measures that are "more expensive than expected," i.e. mainly required disposals. Even though the latter should not, according to ongoing discussions, exceed the limits of sales and EBITDA that are provided for by the merger agreements. Namely, a Parisian analyst says, "the sale of assets representing up to 3.7 billion dollars in sales or 1.1 billion euros in EBITDA".
In addition, according to Linde and Praxair, the European Commission is expected to launch an in-depth (so-called Phase II) investigation into the operation, presumably by 16 February. Being usual for a project of this size, the Phase II procedure usually ends within 90 days of its opening.
Meanwhile, Linde and Praxair are continuing to discuss with the authorities and still hope to finalise the merger in the second half of 2018.
Copyright (c) 2018 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.