The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said yesterday that it will require Praxair, Inc. and Linde AG to divest assets in nine industrial gases product markets in numerous geographic markets in the US, as part of a settlement that resolves charges that their proposed merger would likely be anticompetitive.
The assets will be sold to companies including Messer Group and MATHESON Tri-Gas.
The complaint alleges that the proposed merger would harm competition in markets for bulk liquid oxygen, bulk liquid nitrogen, bulk liquid argon, bulk liquid carbon dioxide, bulk liquid hydrogen, bulk refined helium, on-site hydrogen, on-site carbon monoxide, and excimer laser gases.
According to the complaint, the proposed merger would eliminate direct competition between Praxair and Linde in each of nine industrial gases product markets, leaving limited alternative sources of supply in these markets. The proposed merger would enable the merged firm to exercise market power unilaterally because, for many customers, the merging firms are their two best alternatives. As a result, purchasers of the industrial gases at issue would likely pay higher prices.
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