Status:  New/Upcoming Filing

Acquirer:  Linde plc (Ireland)

Acquired:  Praxair, Inc. (U.S.)

Value:  Market value in excess of US$70 billion

Industry:  Industrial Gases

On June 1, 2017, Praxair, Inc., a Delaware corporation, and Linde Aktiengesellschaft, a German stock corporation, entered into a business combination agreement pursuant to which they agreed to combine and become subsidiaries of a new Irish holding company, Zamalight plc, to be renamed Linde plc.  (See Praxair Form 8-K, June 1, 2017, SEC Filing.)  Zamalight Subco, Inc., an indirect wholly-owned Delaware subsidiary of Linde plc, will merge with and into Praxair, with Praxair surviving the Merger as a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of Linde plc.  (Id.)  Praxair is a leading industrial gas company in North and South America and one of the largest worldwide. (See Praxair Press Release, Linde and Praxair Sign Business Combination Agreement to Become a Leading Industrial Gas Company, Form 8-K, Ex-99.1, June 1, 2017, SEC Filing.) Linde is similarly one of the largest industrial gas companies in the world, and also operates an engineering division related to gas and chemical manufacturing plants.  (See id.; see also Linde Group website.)   According to the agreement, CFIUS Approval is a condition to closing. (See Section 7.1(a)(ii)(B), Business Combination Agreement, Praxair Form 8-K, Ex-2.1, June 1, 2017, SEC Filing.)