BRUSSELS—German industrial gases group Linde and U.S. rival Praxair secured conditional EU antitrust approval on Aug. 20 for their $82 billion merger but still have to clear a major hurdle with U.S. enforcers.
The deal, announced in June last year, would put the merged entity ahead of French competitor Air Liquide in gas distribution. The companies’ industrial gases such as oxygen and helium are used in hospitals, MRI scanners, and steel production.
