In 2015, the European market was valued at €16.7bn ($18.6bn). Growth has been relatively flat in most Western European markets, whereas their Eastern European counterparts have fared slightly better.
Linde are currently the second largest company in Europe, behind current market leaders Air Liquide. However, should the Praxair and Linde merger go ahead it would lead to a new market leader not only globally, but also within the European region.
One of the key issues of a potential merger between Praxair and Linde would be the current operations both companies hold in Northern Europe and Scandinavia. Praxair recently acquired Yara’s European carbon dioxide (CO2) which, if combined with Linde’s current CO2 operations, is likely to create an entity too large to be left unnoticed by anti-trust authorities. This could lead to a number of divestments in the countries such as Sweden and Norway, where Linde currently hold commanding market leadership positions.
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