Industrial gas makers Linde, Praxair resume merger talks

Industrial gas makers Linde AG and Praxair Inc. are resuming talks about a possible merger that they abandoned in September.

Linde said Wednesday that its management board decided to return to talks on "the essential terms of a potential merger of equals" on the basis of a proposal by Praxair, based in Danbury, Connecticut.

The two companies announced preliminary talks in mid-August but dropped them a few weeks later. At the time, Linde said that they hadn't been able to agree on details, "specifically about governance aspects."

Linde, based in Munich, Germany, also said Wednesday that CEO Wolfgang Buechele is stepping down and being replaced by Aldo Belloni.

The companies sell gases used in a wide range of applications including manufacturing, food processing and the oil and gas industry.