According to an article from Modern Distribution Management, Linde Gas & Equipment has agreed to acquire Memphis, Tennessee-based nexAir, according to a report from Memphis-based news outlet The Daily Memphian.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the acquisition is expected to close later this year pending approval from the Federal Trade Commission and Linde’s board of directors, according to the report.
Bill Proctor, nexAir president, said he didn’t expect the deal to result in layoffs because “Linde doesn’t have a strong presence in the region,” according to the report.
NexAir CEO Kevin McEniry, however, told The Daily Memphian he will step down from his role once the acquisition closes. Proctor is expected to assume leadership of nexAir, which will continue as a Linde Gas & Equipment region, according to the report.
Linde Gas & Equipment, one of the world’s largest gas companies, is a division of Dublin, Ireland-based Linde PLC.
NexAir packages and distributes atmospheric gases and welding supplies over three divisions — industrial, metal and carbonic, the latter focusing on food preservation.
The Oct. 11 announcement isn’t the first time nexAir and Linde reached a deal. In January 2020, nexAir acquired Linde LifeGas and its packaged gas product businesses from Linde Gas North America LLC, according to the Memphis Business Journal.
That agreement included 16 LifeGas branch locations across five Southern states and a production facility in Union City, Georgia. About 200 Linde Gas employees became nexAir employees under the deal, the Memphis Business Journal reported.
