Linde, Praxair agree terms of $65b deal to create gas giant

German industrial gases maker Linde and its US competitor Praxair on Tuesday said they had agreed on the terms of a proposed $65-billion "merger of equals" to create a global giant in the sector.

The agreement, which paves the way for the deal to be finalised, comes after a previous attempt at a tie-up failed in September amid reports of executive infighting over key positions and locations.

"Linde and Praxair today announced that the companies intend to combine in a merger of equals under a new holding company," the two firms said in a joint statement.

"Under the Linde brand, we want to combine our companies' business and technology capabilities and form a global industrial gas leader," Linde CEO Aldo Belloni said in a statement.

By joining forces, the two groups would overtake Linde's historic French rival Air Liquide as the world number one industrial gas supplier, with combined annual revenues of more than $30 billion (29 billion euros).

In their joint statement, Linde and Praxair estimated that the new combined company would have a "market value in excess of $65 billion".

The merger would lead to annual savings of around $1 billion, they added, "driven by scale benefits, cost savings and efficiency improvements".

Under the all-stock transaction, shareholders in Linde and Praxair would each own approximately 50 percent of the new combined company, which would carry the Linde brand name. The new company will be based in Connecticut but have its tax domicile in Europe.

"Corporate functions would be appropriately split between Danbury, Connecticut and Munich, Germany to help achieve efficiencies," the statement said.

Executive personnel and the site of the merged group's headquarters were vexed questions that helped scupper the deal the first time around, a source familiar with the discussions told AFP at the time.