(Archived) Praxair Distribution Names Byers Mergers and Acquisitions VP

DANBURY, Conn. August 20, 2008 — Steve Byers, currently Southern Division general manager for Praxair Distribution, Inc. (PDI), has been named vice president of acquisitions. He succeeds Rob D’Alessandro who remains chairman of the board of the Praxair Distribution Mid-Atlantic (PDMA) joint venture.

“As a shareholder and chairman of the board of PDMA, Rob has elected to focus his efforts on the venture to accelerate its integration and capture business development opportunities,” said George Ristevski, president of Praxair Distribution. “Rob was instrumental in implementation of our very successful acquisition process and will transition the activities to Steve immediately.

“Steve has successfully built the Southern Division through a number of acquisitions, and has become very familiar with our acquisition process,” continued Ristevski. “His diverse set of experiences and his knowledge of our industry will help make him a successful M&A leader.”

Byers joined Marin Gas in 1988 and held various roles with that company until it was acquired by Praxair Distribution in 1994. Byers was named branch operations manager and general sales manager in the Central California Division before being named division general manager in 2003. In 2006 he was appointed to lead the integration of the businesses and employees of Constar LLC into the newly-created Southern Division.

Praxair Distribution’s parent company, Praxair, Inc. (NYSE:PX) is the largest industrial gases company in North and South America, and one of the largest worldwide, with 2007 sales of $9.4 billion. The company produces, sells and distributes atmospheric, process and specialty 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.