Linde said in a statement 15 October that Linde and Praxair both “aligned” on 1 October with Federal Trade Commission (FTC) staff regarding required asset sales as part of ongoing US antitrust review of the Linde-Praxair merger.
The remedy package has been submitted to the FTC commissioners for a vote, Linde said. It is not clear when commissioners will vote but merger conditions require that the FTC provide clearance by 24 October. The combination is also subject to the timely receipt of buyer approval by the European Commission.
Jefferies analyst Laurence Alexander said he remains optimistic that FTC approval can be reached before the deadline. “The timeline suggests approval could slip into next week, with the end of the day October 24 the key hurdle,” Alexander says. “Buyer approval is also required by the European Commission, which should be manageable as the transaction or transactions involve US assets.”
Linde has agreed to sell a significant part of its assets in the Americas to a consortium of Messer Group and CVC Capital Partners while Praxair has agreed to sell a majority of its businesses in Europe to Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corp. (TNSC; Tokyo, Japan) to secure antitrust approvals.
By Robert Westervelt
Source: Chemical Week
Neste Corporation’s Board of Directors has appointed Heikki Malinen, M.Sc. (Econ.), MBA (Harvard) as the President and CEO of Neste as of 2 November 2024, at the latest. Malinen joins Neste from Outokumpu Corporation where he has held the position of President and CEO since 2020.
Petrochemicals company Sasol has announced that CFO and executive director Hanré Rossouw will step down from his position, effective October 31. Sasol has started the process to appoint a successor. Rossouw will still oversee the publication of Sasol’s reports for the financial year ending June 30, to allow for a structured handover period.
Chemours announced its CFO Jonathan Lock has resigned from all positions within the company, according to an SEC 8-K filing on April 23. The resignation comes in the aftermath of the company announcing that Lock, former CEO Mark Newman, and principal accounting officer Camela Wisel, had been placed on administrative leave.
