(Archived) Praxair and Lordco Sign Seven-Year Agreement

DANBURY, Conn., October 12, 2005 — Praxair, Inc. (NYSE: PX) today announced that Praxair Distribution in Canada and Lordco Parts Ltd., have signed a seven-year agreement for Praxair to be the company’s exclusive supplier of compressed industrial welding gases. Lordco is Canada’s largest independent distributor of automotive and industrial supplies. With 82 auto superstores stores in the province of British Columbia, the firm is well positioned to serve such welding gases customers as auto body shops, industrial accounts, small contractors, welding hobbyists and artists.

Lordco president and owner Ed Coates said, "This past decade has seen Lordco enjoy tremendous growth in sales volume in virtually all divisions of our company. Lordco prides itself on being a "full service, one-stop" automotive parts distributor, and many of our customers also require a ready supply of compressed gases in their businesses. To support them properly, we realized that we needed to become a full fledged industrial gas distributor."

"Selecting a supplier was a process that we did not enter into lightly," continued Coates. "In the final analysis, Praxair was clearly the logical choice for us, and their infrastructure and supply network within B.C. was strongly positioned to provide us with the product and service we’ll require for the foreseeable future. We look forward to many years of mutual success."

"Lordco is an ideal outlet for Praxair’s products, due to its strong commitment to customer service, and because of its sophisticated distribution system within British Columbia," said Wayne Yakich, President of Praxair Distribution. "Large industrial customers and small contractors will both be able to use a retail store they know and trust for all their welding gases and equipment needs."

Lordco Parts Ltd. is Canada’s largest independent distributor of automotive and industrial welding supplies, with 82 retail stores and 1,600 employees in British Columbia, Canada. For further information regarding Lordco, visit the Lordco web site at www.lordco.com.

Praxair is the largest industrial gases company in North and South America, and one of the largest worldwide, with 2004 sales of $6.6 billion. The company produces, sells and distributes atmospheric and process gases, and high-performance surface coatings. Praxair products, services and technologies bring productivity and environmental benefits to a wide variety of industries, including aerospace, chemicals, food and beverage, electronics, energy, healthcare, manufacturing, metals and others. More information on Praxair is available on the Internet at www.praxair.com