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|4Feb 18, 5:38 PM ET

Bichara Guillermo 4

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Linde (LIN) Exec VP Guillermo Bichara Exercises Options, Sells Shares

What Happened
Guillermo Bichara, Executive Vice President & Chief Legal Officer of Linde plc (LIN), exercised 26,980 stock options on Feb 17, 2026 (exercise price $176.63), acquiring the same number of ordinary shares (value of exercised shares shown as $4,765,477). All 26,980 acquired shares were immediately used to satisfy withholding and sale obligations: 17,525 shares were withheld to cover exercise price and taxes (reported disposed at $480.18 per share, $8,415,155) and 9,455 shares were sold in the open market at $480.45 per share ($4,542,655). In total, the dispositions reported equal approximately $12.96 million. This pattern is a cashless exercise (exercise followed by withholding/sales) and is typically a routine tax/settlement step rather than a straightforward open-market purchase or holding increase.

Key Details

  • Transaction date: 2026-02-17 (Form filed 2026-02-18).
  • Option exercise: 26,980 shares acquired at $176.63 per share (total $4,765,477). (Transaction code M)
  • Withholding to cover exercise/taxes: 17,525 shares withheld/disposed at $480.18 (total $8,415,155). (Transaction code F; footnote F1)
  • Open-market sale: 9,455 shares sold at $480.45 (total $4,542,655). (Transaction code S)
  • Total disposed proceeds reported: ~$12,957,810.
  • Shares owned after the transaction: not specified in this filing.
  • Relevant footnotes: F1 (ordinary shares withheld to cover exercise price and tax withholdings); F13 (conversion to Linde plc ordinary shares is one-for-one); F12 (historical corporate succession note).
  • No late filing indicator provided in the submission.

Context
Because all 26,980 shares from the option exercise were either withheld for taxes/exercise costs or sold on the open market, this is effectively a cashless exercise and not an accumulation of new share ownership. Tax-withholding dispositions (F) are common after option exercises; they are administrative and do not necessarily signal the insider’s longer-term view. Transaction codes: M = option exercise, F = tax/withholding disposition, S = open-market sale.