BloombergAir Liquide SA is launching a 3.3 billion euro (US$3.7 billion) rights issue to help finance its takeover of Airgas Inc of the US, the French industrial gases supplier’s biggest-ever acquisition. Air Liquide plans to announce a US$4.5 billion paper issue this week, the company said. “If you look at the average of the past month that represents a discount of 22.5 percent,” Air Liquide chief financial officer Fabienne Lecorvaisier said on a call with reporters, referring to the pricing of the rights issue. Air Liquide shares gained 0.3 percent to 94.97 euros as of 9:08am in Paris, valuing the company at 32.8 billion euros. The rights issue is open to the public in France only and is fully underwritten by a syndicate of banks, the company said.

Source: Taipei Times September 13, 2016 15:56 UTC