In order to repel the threat of a takeover - or better still, avoid the possibility that an opportunity should arise - Hans Meinhardt had already effected a voting rights limit of ten percent at the shareholders’ meeting of 1973. After intense discussions, 80 percent of the shareholders voted for this proposal. The supportof major shareholder Allianz AG, which backed the proposal by the Executive Board, was one factor that contributed to its success.
After 1976, Meinhardt worked successfully to engage institutional investors such as Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank in long-term involvement with Linde AG, thus creating a stable ownership structure.
In 1980, at Meinhardt’s request, the then CEO of Allianz, Wolfgang Schieren, joined Linde’s Supervisory Board and soon thereafter became its chairman, acting as a guarantor of stability and continuity.