Another German Buyout

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Another German Buyout

Linde Group buys Lincare for $4.6 billion.

German industrial gas conglomerate Linde Group has agreed to buy Lincare Holdings Inc., an American home care health company, for $4.6 billion.

Lincare provides oxygen and other medical gases to patients at home. Linde manufactures industrial and medical gases.

“Against the background of demographic changes, the health-care industry is a megatrend in which we will be able to participate more strongly in a new setup,” said Prof. Wolfgang Reitzle, ceo of Linde AG. “Together with Lincare, we will become the global leading health-care provider within the gases industry and further internationalize our business.” Earlier in the year, it bought another American company, Air Products, for €590 million.

Lincare’s parent company was once a part of the Linde Group, but was bought by an American company in 1917.

The acquisition is just another sign of Germany’s economic dominance. While America’s industry is struggling, Germany’s continues to go from strength to strength.