SEOUL (Reuters) – German industrial gases group Linde has agreed to sell its South Korean subsidiary to local private equity firm IMM for 1.3 trillion won ($1.15 billion), two people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.

The move is seen part of Linde’s efforts to divest assets in South Korea and elsewhere to get antitrust clearance for its $86 billion merger with rival Praxair, which will create an industry leader.

South Korea’s competition watchdog in October said that Linde and Praxair would have to sell some of their assets, raising concerns that their combination would restrict competition. The sources said Macquarie, Air Liquide also had bid for Linde’s South Korean assets.

One of the persons said the two firms aim to close the deal by the end of April. Another person confirmed the sale, without elaborating on the value of the deal.

Linde declined to comment. IMM was not available for comment.

Linde and Praxair won U.S. antitrust approval for their merger in October, clearing the last hurdle for the deal in the nick of time.

The all-share merger of equals created an industry leader with revenues of about $27 billion based on 2017 figures, and 80,000 employees across more than 100 countries, which is now called Linde plc.

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