HARTFORD, Conn. - Carrier has reached an agreement to acquire German company Linde AG's refrigeration division, a European leader in commercial refrigeration with sales of approximately $1 billion.

Linde's refrigeration division - headquartered in Cologne, Germany, with manufacturing facilities in Europe, Asia, and South America - produces commercial refrigeration systems and refrigerated display cases and subsystems. Carrier is reported to have paid 255 million euros ($305 million) and to have assumed another 70 million euros ($85 million) in pension and other obligations.

"The combined entity created by Carrier's acquisition of Linde's refrigeration business will provide customers around the world a wider portfolio of high quality, technologically advanced commercial refrigeration choices," said Geraud Darnis, president of Carrier Corp. "The two companies balance each other well geographically, in product and service ranges, and in a shared focus on environmentally sensitive technologies."