Praxair-Linde’s $35 Billion Merger Advances With Deal Blueprint

Linde AG and Praxair Inc. agreed on a blueprint for their $35 billion combination, leaving the fate of the proposed deal in the hands of a divided Linde supervisory board that derailed the plan for the merger of the industrial gas suppliers once before.

Teams from both companies put together a so-called business combination agreement, though there is no assurance the document will result in a transaction, Munich-based Linde said in a statement May 24. The companies announced a preliminary deal in December, and Linde’s board is scheduled to decide whether to proceed next week. Praxair’s board also needs to ...