German Regulator Examines Possible Insider Trading at Linde
14 January 2017 - 4:34AM
Dow Jones News
By Christine Benders-Rueger
FRANKFURT--Germany's financial regulator BaFin said Friday it
opened a formal investigation into possible insider trading in
shares of Linde AG in the period preceding the gas company's
announcement of merger talks with U.S. peer Praxair Inc.
The two gas giant7s last month concluded a two-year courtship,
agreeing to join forces to create the industry's biggest player
with a combined market value of $66.6 billion. BaFin initially
launched a routine review of Linde trading when shares jumped some
20% after negotiations became public in August 2016.
Following this initial review, BaFin has decided there's reason
to look into potential insider trading further and has initiated a
formal investigation, a BaFin spokeswoman said, confirming a report
published on Friday by German magazine Der Spiegel.
"We're looking at trading with Linde shares in general," the
spokeswoman said. She would not comment on individuals. A Linde
spokesman declined to comment.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 13, 2017 12:19 ET (17:19 GMT)
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