REGULATORY APPROVAL
Obstacle in US may halt deal in Germany
Frankfurt — The merger of what would become the world’s largest gas producer is facing an unexpected hurdle from the US antitrust regulator that could derail the deal. The Federal Trade Commission indicated it wanted Germany’s Linde and Praxair to sell more assets before it approved their deal, Linde said in a statement to the markets on Sunday. The company noted a "higher likelihood" that the requirement might push total asset disposals beyond the acceptable threshold outlined in the merger deal. That agreement sets limits on the assets the companies are willing to jettison in return for regulatory clearance. Under the deal, the units to be sold must have annual sales of less than €3.7bn ($4.3bn) or income before interest, depreciation of less than €1.1bn. In July, Linde announced the sale of North American businesses with combined 2017 revenue of about $1.7bn. A few days earlier, Linde and Praxair agreed to sell a raft of industrial-gas plants in Europe to a Japanese competitor. T...
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