Linde AG Completes Tender Offer for Lincare Holdings, Inc.

Linde AG (Linde) announced that the tender offer to purchase all the issued and outstanding shares of common stock of Lincare Holdings, Inc. (Lincare) at USD 41.50 per share in cash expired as scheduled, and was not extended. The depositary for the tender offer has advised Linde that, as of 12:00 midnight, New York City time, on August 7, 2012 when the tender offer expired, a total of 73,441,467 shares of Lincare common stock were validly tendered and not withdrawn, representing approximately 83.87% of the shares of Lincare common stock then outstanding. The depositary for the tender offer has also advised Linde that it has received commitments to tender 9,393,638 additional shares of Lincare common stock under guaranteed delivery procedures, representing approximately 10.73% of the shares of Lincare common stock then outstanding. Linde has accepted for payment the shares validly tendered and not withdrawn in the tender offer. Linde intends to complete the acquisition of Lincare through a short-form merger without a vote or meeting of Lincare's shareholders. Each of the remaining shares of Lincare common stock will be converted into the right to receive the same USD 41.50 per share in cash that was paid in the tender offer. Upon completion of the merger, Lincare will become a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of Linde. Lincare's common stock will no longer be listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.