Praxair Inc., in accordance with its proposed business combination with Linde AG, signed an agreement to sell the majority of its businesses in Europe to Japan’s Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corp. for approximately $5.8 billion. This agreement is conditioned on the successful consummation of the Praxair-Linde merger and other regulatory approvals. The assets to be sold include Praxair’s industrial gases businesses in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the U.K. and include approximately 2,500 employees.

According to Taiyo Nippon Sanso, the acquisition allows it to seize a unique opportunity to enter the European market and establish a truly global footprint with assets in all the key geographies in the European Union. Praxair will continue to own, operate and maintain these businesses until the closing of the merger and this European divestiture transaction.