CHEMICALS

Praxair Sues to Invalidate CBI Takeover Defense: The suit, filed in Delaware Chancery Court, seeks a court order invalidating CBI’s “poison pill,” a defense designed to make a hostile takeover prohibitively expensive. It also asks the court to declare that the CBI Industries Inc. board breached its fiduciary duties by failing to drop the defense. Praxair Inc. of Danbury, Conn., unveiled the $2.1-billion hostile offer Sunday, saying Oak Brook, Ill.-based CBI had broken off merger discussions. The $32-a-share offer is for cash or stock and would include the assumption of about $750 million in debt. Both companies produce industrial gases.