LINDE (annual turnover of 9 billion EUR with 46,500 employees), a German specialist in industrial gases, has sold its struggling refrigeration systems division to the American CARRIER (UNITED TECHNOLOGIES group; turnover of 7.5 billion EUR with 40,000 employees), the sector's world leader, for 325 million EUR. The division employs 6,300 with a turnover of 866 million EUR in 2003.