Praxair

The company was founded by Carl von Linde as Linde Air Products Company in 1907. In 1917, it joined with 4 other chemical companies under the name Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation, while maintaining a separate identity.[2] 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.[3] The name is derived from a combination of the Greek word "praxis", or practical application, and "air", the company's primary raw material.[4]

In August 2016 it was publicly announced that the American Praxair was in official negotiations to merger with the German Linde Group, which would form the world's largest gas supplier.[5][6][7][8] The following month in September the negotiations were halted and suspended indefinitely.[9][10][11][12] By mid December 2016 Praxair had resumed negotiations with Linde for a potential merger[13][14][15][16][17] In late December 2016 an official announcement was made that Praxair had reached an agreement to a merger with Linde in a deal valued at $35 billion[18] with an overall merger value of $65 billion.[19] 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.[19] Nonetheless in May 2017, both companies reached a deal, in principle, for an all-share merger of equals valued at $75 billion,[20] to form a new holding company.[21] In early June 2017, both companies agreed to the merger.[22] US regulatory approval was obtained in October 2018,[23] after which the financial transaction was completed.

• Official website