Praxair

Praxair, Inc.
Public
Traded as NYSE: PX
S&P 500 Component
Industry Chemicals (industrial gases)
Founded 1907
Headquarters Danbury, Connecticut, United States
Key people
 Steve Angel - Chairman, President and CEO
Revenue US$ 10.8 billion (2015)
Number of employees
 26,000 (2015)
Website http://www.praxair.com

Praxair, Inc. is an American worldwide industrial gases company. It is the largest industrial gases company in North and South America, and the third-largest worldwide by revenue.

History

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.[1] Its degree of independence waxed and waned over the years, and in 1989, 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.[2] The name is derived from a combination of the Greek word "praxis", or practical application, and "air", the company's primary raw material.

Praxair was the first company in North America to commercialize cryogenically separated oxygen. The company introduced the first distribution system for liquid gas in 1917 and developed on-site gas supply in the 1940s. In the 1960s, Praxair introduced non-cryogenic means of air separation.

In August 2016 it was publicly announced that the American company was in official negotiations to merger with the German competitor Linde Group, which would form the world's largest gas supplier.[3][4][5][6] The following month in September the negotiations were halted and suspended indefinitely.[7][8][9][10] As of mid December 2016 Praxair has resumed negotiations with Linde for a potential merger [11][12][13][14][15] In late December an official announcement was made that Praxair has reached an agreement to merger with Linde in a deal valued at $35 billion[16] with an overall merger value of $65 billion.[17] In April, 2017 Linde again rejected a request for a shareholder vote at its annual general meeting in May - this is the second time Linde has rejected Praxair's request.[17] In May 2017, both companies reached a deal in principle on an all-share merger of equals valued at $75 billion,[18] the deal will still need the approval of Praxair's board of directors as well as Linde's management and executive boards[19] and if approved, will form a new holding company.[20] In early June, both companies agreed to the merger.[21]

References

  1. ↑ "Praxair, Inc." International Directory of Company Histories. Ed. Paula Kepos. Vol. 11. Detroit: St. James Press, 1995. 402-404
  2. ↑ "History".
  3. ↑ Fontanella-Khan, James; Massoudi, Arash (16 August 2016). "Praxair makes move for German rival Linde". ft.com. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  4. ↑ Iwasaki, Mariko (16 August 2016). "Praxair in Talks to Acquire Germany's Linde". TheStreet. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  5. ↑ Stone, Mike; Hack, Jens (16 August 2016). "UPDATE 3-Gas supplier Praxair opens talks to buy Germay's Linde". CNBC. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  6. ↑ Stone, Mike; Hack, Jens (16 August 2016). "Gas suppliers Praxair, Linde hold merger talks". Reuters. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  7. ↑ Henning, Eyk. "Praxair, Linde call a halt to merger talks".
  8. ↑ "Subscribe to read".
  9. ↑ Henning, Eyk (12 September 2016). "Praxair and Linde Call Off $60 Billion Merger Talks" – via www.wsj.com.
  10. ↑ "Linde, Praxair end $60 billion merger talks". 12 September 2017 – via Reuters.
  11. ↑ Henning, Eyk (7 December 2016). "Linde Resumes Merger Talks With Praxair" – via www.wsj.com.
  12. ↑ Vielma, Antonio José (29 November 2016). "Praxair reapproaches Linde to resume merger talks: Report".
  13. ↑ "Linde CEO Resigns, Praxair Talks to Resume". 7 December 2016.
  14. ↑ Bray, Chad (7 December 2016). "Linde of Germany to Resume Merger Talks With Praxair" – via NYTimes.com.
  15. ↑ "Linde Accepts Praxair's Offer to Resume Merger Talks".
  16. ↑ "Praxair to Buy Linde for $35 Billion in Industrial-Gas Deal". 20 December 2016 – via www.bloomberg.com.
  17. 1 2 Editorial, Reuters. "Linde rejects request to vote on Praxair merger at AGM".
  18. ↑ http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-linde-m-a-praxair-idUKKBN18T0HS
  19. ↑ Editorial, Reuters. "Linde, Praxair reach agreement on details of merger".
  20. ↑ "Potential Merger - The Linde Group".
  21. ↑ http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-linde-m-a-praxair-idUKKBN18S5YB


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