Linde Buys Out Stake in One of the Largest U.S. Independent Packaged Gas Distributors

Woking, UK, January 6, 2022 – Linde (NYSE:LIN; FWB:LIN) announced today it has acquired the remaining interests in nexAir, LLC, one of the largest independent packaged gas distributors in the United States with 2022 sales of approximately $400 million.

Linde’s wholly owned subsidiary Linde Gas & Equipment Inc. (LG&E) has held a minority interest in nexAir since 2012. LG&E has now purchased the remaining 77.2%. The acquisition complements Linde’s existing packaged gas business and expands its footprint in a core and fast-growing geography across the southeastern United States.

“This consolidation is consistent with our business strategy of increasing network density and reinvesting in opportunities that meet the investment criteria,” said Ben Glazer, President of LG&E. “We look forward to further strengthening our presence in the southeastern U.S. while serving our customers with the same level of reliability and quality that they have come to expect.”

About Linde

Linde is a leading global industrial gases and engineering company with 2021 sales of $31 billion (€26 billion). We live our mission of making our world more productive every day by providing high-quality solutions, technologies and services which are making our customers more successful and helping to sustain and protect our planet.

The company serves a variety of end markets including chemicals & energy, food & beverage, electronics, healthcare, manufacturing, metals and mining. Linde's industrial gases are used in countless applications, from life-saving oxygen for hospitals to high-purity & specialty gases for electronics manufacturing, hydrogen for clean fuels and much more. Linde also delivers state-of-the-art gas processing solutions to support customer expansion, efficiency improvements and emissions reductions.

For more information about the company and its products and services, please visit www.linde.com