The Linde Group acquires the remaining 50 percent of the shares in the Australian LPG company Elgas

Munich, 2 October 2008 - The technology group The Linde Group has
acquired the remaining 50 percent of the shares in the Australian
LPG-company Elgas, Sydney, at an equity value of 126 million euro.
Elgas, established in 1984, was a 50/50 Joint Venture between BOC
Limited, a member of the Linde Group, and AGL Energy (AGL).

Elgas is the biggest marketer of LPG (Liquefied Propane Gas) in
Australia and operates Australia's largest LPG storage facility at
Port Botany in Sydney. The company achieved sales of around 255
million euro in the financial year 2007 and currently employs about
460 people.

"This transaction will enable us to strengthen our position as the
leading supplier of gases in Australia", explained Professor Dr
Wolfgang Reitzle, Chief Executive Officer of Linde AG. "We will
profit from the synergies between the LPG business and our strong
industrial gases business. We can leverage the Elgas infrastructure
and management to expand and improve our combined LPG business across
Australia and New Zealand."

In the operating segment South Pacific & Africa, Linde achieved sales
of 1.284 billion euro in the financial year 2007. Within the
operating segment, Linde's gases sales in South Pacific increased by
11 percent to 755 million euro in 2007.

The Linde Group is a world leading gases and engineering company with
more than 50,000 employees working in around 100 countries worldwide.
In the 2007 financial year it achieved sales of EUR 12.3 billion. The
strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards sustainable
earnings-based growth and focuses on the expansion of its
international business with forward-looking products and services.
Linde acts responsibly towards its shareholders, business partners,
employees, society and the environment - in every one of its business
areas, regions and locations across the globe. Linde is committed to
technologies and products that unite the goals of customer value and
sustainable development.

BOC, a member of the Linde Group, is the leading industrial gases
company in Australia, where it achieves strong annual growth rates.
The company has more than 2,000 employees in Australia and an
extensive distribution network across the country.

For more information, see The Linde Group web site at www. linde.com

Further information:

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