£56bn giant gas merger puts 3,200 jobs at risk

THE German owner of medical gas maker BOC is merging with a US rival to create a £56bn global industrial gases giant mostly run from the UK.

Linde and Praxair voted yesterday to combine in a deal that casts doubt over the future of about 3,200 jobs in Britain. The companies plan to save more than £900m from the merger. Linde bought BOC in 2006 for £8.2bn, promising to inject huge sums of cash into its heavily indebted pensions fund. The subsidiary employs more than 3,200 people in the UK, where it has made gases used in metal welding, for more than 120 years.

It was not clear yesterday what impact the deal might have on BOC, as Linde declined to comment.

But union leader Tony Devlin, national officer at Unite, said: ‘Unite will be seeking assurances from the management of the merged company about job security, and the maintenance of terms and conditions.’

Bosses said the new merged company, named Linde, will have six board members from Linde and six from Praxair. It will be incorporated in Ireland with board meetings and most governance based in the UK.

Aldo Belloni, the chief executive of Linde, commented: ‘This merger is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to form a great global industrial gas company poised to deliver value for customers, employees and shareholders alike.’

The all-share merger still has to be approved by a majority of Praxair shareholders.