The on-again, off-again proposed merger between industrial gases company Praxair Inc. and Linde AG – a deal that would create the largest gases supplier in the world with more than $30 billion in annual revenue – has taken yet another turn.
Praxair said it has asked Linde about resuming discussions of a potential merger but wouldn't comment further, and Linde now seems interested in the proposal three months after shareholder representatives on its supervisory board recommended ending the talks.
According to a recent Reuters report that cited German newspaper Handelsblatt, Linde supervisory board chairman Wolfgang Reitzle is "in favor of a tie-up between the German industrial gases maker and U.S. rival Praxair, which has made a renewed merger proposal."
"Praxair's recent concessions to Linde include giving the German group's Munich headquarters a bigger role than initially planned and as well as providing some job guarantees," according to the report.
If the merger does happen, it would be another mammoth deal for the gases & welding equipment sector, which saw Air Liquide complete its $10.3 billion acquisition of Airgas Inc. in May.
Also last month, the building materials and construction sector provided some notable acquisitions, including deals involving some of the largest distributors in this space.
Building products distributor ABC Supply Co. Inc., Beloit, WI – No. 2 on MDM's Top 10 Building Materials & Construction Distributors list – acquired Trumbull Vinyl Products Inc., Cortland, OH, a distributor of roofing, siding and other building products.
SRS Distribution, McKinney, TX, a roofing distribution holding company and tied for No. 10 on MDM's Top 10 Building Materials & Construction Distributors list, acquired Tri State Aluminum Products of Wisconsin Inc., Belleville, WI, an independent distributor of residential roofing and accessories, siding, and windows, servicing the Madison, WI, area.
Also, World and Main LLC, a Cranbury, NJ-based provider of products, merchandising and distribution solutions in the home, hardware and building supply categories, sold its Handy Hardware unit to Hardware Distribution Warehouses Inc.
And PrimeSource Building Products Inc., Irving, TX, a distributor of building materials and construction fasteners, acquired Northeast Wholesale, a distributor of fasteners, tools and other building materials throughout the Northeastern United States.
Here are other key deals that occurred in November 2016:
Sonepar Subsidiary Makes Acquisition
Lawson Products Acquires Mattic Industries
Bunzl to Acquire Companies in France & Denmark
RelaDyne Acquires Lubricants & Commercial Fuel Divisions of Slidell Oil
Hydraulic Supply to Expand to Mexico
Quality Custom Distribution Acquires Mile Hi Specialty Foods
