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Commitments and Contingencies | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2025
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Commitments and Contingencies | Commitments and Contingencies Contingent Liabilities Linde is subject to various lawsuits and government investigations that arise from time to time in the ordinary course of business. These actions are based upon alleged environmental, tax, antitrust and personal injury claims, among others. Linde has strong defenses in these cases and intends to defend itself vigorously. It is possible that the company may incur losses in connection with some of these actions in excess of accrued liabilities. Management does not anticipate that in the aggregate such losses would have a material adverse effect on the company’s consolidated financial position or liquidity; however, it is possible that the final outcomes could have a significant impact on the company’s reported results of operations in any given period. Significant matters are: •During 2009, the Brazilian government published Law 11941/2009 instituting a new voluntary amnesty program (“Refis Program”) which allowed Brazilian companies to settle certain federal tax disputes at reduced amounts. During 2009, the company decided that it was economically beneficial to settle many of its outstanding federal tax disputes and such disputes were enrolled in the Refis Program, subject to final calculation and review by the Brazilian federal government. The company recorded estimated liabilities based on the terms of the Refis Program. Since 2009, Linde has been unable to reach final agreement on the calculations and initiated litigation against the government in an attempt to resolve certain items. Open issues relate to the following matters: (i) application of cash deposits and net operating loss carryforwards to satisfy obligations and (ii) the amount of tax reductions available under the Refis Program. It is difficult to estimate the timing of resolution of legal matters in Brazil. •On and after April 23, 2019 former shareholders of Linde AG filed appraisal proceedings at the District Court (Landgericht) Munich I (Germany), seeking an increase of the cash consideration paid in connection with the previously completed cash merger squeeze-out of all of Linde AG’s minority shareholders for €189.46 per share. Any such increase would apply to all 14,763,113 Linde AG shares that were outstanding on April 8, 2019, when the cash merger squeeze-out was completed. The period for plaintiffs to file claims expired on July 9, 2019. In November 2023, the court issued a decision rejecting the plaintiffs’ claims in their entirety and determining that the cash merger squeeze-out consideration was appropriate. The plaintiffs have appealed this decision. The company believes the consideration paid was fair and that the claims are not supported by sufficient evidence, and no reserve has been established. We cannot estimate the timing of resolution. •On May 27, 2022, performance of all Linde Engineering agreements in Russia were lawfully suspended in compliance with applicable sanctions. In December 2022, at RusChemAlliance’s (RCA) request a Russian St. Petersburg court (“St. Petersburg Court”) issued an injunction preventing sale of Linde Russia subsidiaries and assets. During 2023 and 2024, in accordance with the dispute resolution provisions of the related engineering agreements Linde secured judgements reenforcing jurisdiction of the agreements with RCA outside of Russia and ordering the St. Petersburg proceedings stayed and injunctions lifted. However, RCA has continued to pursue its claims in Russia and during the fourth quarter of 2024 two Linde Russian joint ventures were sold locally pursuant to a St. Petersburg court order and the proceeds provided to RCA. Linde does not expect a material adverse impact on earnings given the $1.8 billion liabilities recorded as of March 31, 2025 and the immaterial investment value of its remaining deconsolidated Russia subsidiaries. Please see further detail on the Russia legal cases below. RCA LNG and GPP In December 2022, the St. Petersburg Court issued an injunction preventing (i) the sale of any shares in Linde’s subsidiaries and joint ventures in Russia, and (ii) the disposal of any of the assets in those entities exceeding 5% of the relevant company’s overall asset value. RusChemAlliance is owned 50% by PJSC Gazprom. The injunction was requested by RCA to secure payment of a possible award under an arbitration proceeding RCA intended to file against Linde Engineering for alleged breach of contract under the agreement to build a gas processing plant in Russia entered into in July 2021. In March 2023, RCA filed a claim in St. Petersburg against Linde GmbH for recovery of advance payments under the agreement ("GPP Claim"), and subsequently (i) added Linde and other Linde subsidiaries as defendants, and (ii) is seeking payment of alleged damages from Linde and guarantor banks. In March 2024, RCA filed a similar claim for repayment and damages against Linde for alleged breach of contract under the agreement to build a liquefied natural gas plant in Russia entered into in September 2021 (“LNG Claim”, and together with the GPP Claim, the “Russian Claims”). Dispute resolution provisions In accordance with the dispute resolution provisions of the agreements, in 2023, Linde filed a notice of arbitration with the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre ("HKIAC") against RCA to claim that (i) RCA has no entitlement to payment, (ii) RCA’s Russian Claims are in breach of the arbitration agreement which requires HKIAC arbitration, and (iii) RCA must compensate Linde for the losses and damages caused by the injunction. During 2024, Linde secured awards on exclusive jurisdiction with HKIAC. In January 2024, the Hong Kong court issued a final judgment in Linde’s favor (i) granting a permanent anti-suit injunction against RCA to seek a stay of the GPP claim and not start an LNG claim, (ii) granting a permanent, global anti-enforcement injunction against RCA for the GPP claim, and (iii) ordering that the injunction issued by the St. Petersburg Court be lifted (“HK Court Judgement”). Despite the judgments of the Hong Kong court and similar orders issued by the HKIAC arbitration tribunals, RCA is continuing to pursue its claims in Russia and neither the St. Petersburg injunction affecting Linde’s shares and assets has been lifted, nor the proceeding in St. Petersburg been stayed. Local seizures In February 2024, the St. Petersburg Court decided the GPP Claim in favor of RCA (the “GPP Decision”) and in October 2024, decided the LNG Claim in favor of RCA (the “LNG Decision”). Linde unsuccessfully appealed the GPP Decision in March and September 2024. During the fourth quarter of 2024, RCA executed enforcement actions related to the GPP Decision within Russia for Linde’s shares in two Linde Russian joint ventures and locally RCA received payment from the purchase of these shares by Linde’s joint venture partners. RCA previously initiated the enforcement process for the GPP Decision within Russia for the remainder of Linde’s local assets, and these proceedings are currently pending a court appointed local valuation of Linde’s assets. Additionally, during November 2024, RCA seized the ruble equivalent of approximately €238 million from one of the guarantor bank’s accounts in Russia. Linde intends to claim all damages related to or rising from RCA's enforcement of the GPP and LNG Decisions in the HKIAC arbitration proceedings. Linde subsidiaries affected by the GPP Decision have also filed claims for damages against RCA in the Southern District of New York, the Netherlands and Germany. As of March 31, 2025, Linde has a contingent liability of $1.1 billion, which represents advance payments previously recorded in contract liabilities related to terminated engineering projects with RCA. As a result of the contract terminations, Linde no longer has future performance obligations for these projects. It is difficult to estimate the timing of resolution of these matters. The company intends to vigorously defend its interests in the Russian Claims, Hong Kong arbitration proceedings and other jurisdictions. Amur GPP In July 2015, Gazprom Pererabotka Blagoveshchensk LLC ("Gazprom") entered into an engineering, procurement and construction contract with OJSC NIPIgazpererabotka ("Nipigas") for the construction of a gas processing plant and other components located in the Amur Region, Russia (“Amur GPP”). Subsequently, in December 2015, Nipigas and Linde Engineering, executed a subcontract for engineering, procurement, and site services for licensed production units for the Amur GPP project. Additionally, Linde also entered into (i) a license agreement with Gazprom in 2017 for the operation of the plants, and (ii) a direct owner agreement with Gazprom and Nipigas which included limitation of liability provisions. Performance of the Amur GPP agreements were lawfully suspended in compliance with applicable sanctions on May 27, 2022. On October 8, 2021 and January 5, 2022, fires occurred at the Amur GPP facility. Following the initial fire in 2021, Linde undertook a comprehensive review of the incident, including a detailed local inspection conducted by Linde employees. The Linde report concluded that the fire was attributable to the quality of construction and assembly work, responsibilities falling under the scope of Nipigas. On October 29, 2024, Gazprom submitted a claim to the Arbitration State Court in the Amur Region, Russia (“Amur Court”) against Linde claiming damages and lost profits arising from the fire incidents. As of March 31, 2025, Linde has a contingent liability of $0.7 billion for this and other Amur GPP contract matters. It is difficult to estimate the timing of resolution of this matter. The company intends to vigorously defend its interests in this case.

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