As part of the merger between the US company Praxair and the German company Linde, Praxair must divest part of its European activities.
On 5 July 2018, Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation, a company in the Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings group, and Praxair reached agreement on the acquisition of Praxair's industrial gas business in Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands and Belgium, its carbon dioxide gas business in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands and France and its helium-related businesses for a price of approximately EUR 5 billion. The acquisition is subject to the successful completion of the Praxair and Linde merger and the fulfilment of other conditions precedent. Closing is expected in the second half of 2018.
The American law firm Greenberg Traurig assisted Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation and its subsidiary Matheson Tri-Gas in the global transaction. The Eubelius team, which included Jeroen Delvoie, Runa Vander Eeckt and Steven Declercq, assisted with all Belgian aspects of this transaction.