In March 2006, Linde AG announced that The BOC Group had accepted its takeover offer.&nbsp ; The question of what the impact of this merger would be on the industry was of particular urgency to the companies'distributors. In the nine months since the acquisition, how have these two companies come together, and what have they done to ease the transition?


Bob Van Kirk, an 18-year BOC veteran who now serves as Linde's head of key customers and distributors, and Scott Latta, vice president of the U.S. southern region for Linde, spoke with Laura Ferrel, editor of Welding & Gases Today magazine, about how Linde and BOC approached the merger from the perspective of their distributors. They reflected on the challenges, the opportunities for growth, and how one can never ...