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The
companies said on Wednesday that they had reached a deal in
principle on a Business Combination Agreement for the proposed
$70 billion merger, but some unanswered questions will be
addressed at Thursday's meeting, one of the sources said without
elaborating.
Linde declined to comment on the matter.
The all-share merger of equals, intended to create a market
leader that will overtake France's Air Liquide <AIRP.PA>, had
fallen behind schedule because of the complexity of talks to
forge a formal agreement.
Labor representatives at Linde fiercely oppose the merger,
mainly because plans to move the headquarters outside Germany
would dilute their influence, which currently gives them an
effective veto over strategic decisions.
The first source told Reuters that the supervisory board
members' positions had not changed but that a final decision is
expected nonetheless.
For the deal to go through it must gain approval from the
supervisory board, on which investors and workers are equally
represented.
Linde Chairman Wolfgang Reitzle told Reuters this month that he
would be reluctant but prepared to use his casting vote as in
the event of a stalemate with labor representatives.
(Reporting by Irene Preisinger; Writing by Maria Sheahan;
Editing by David Goodman)
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