Document:

EX-4.1

 Exhibit 4.1 

AMENDMENT TO THE RIGHTS AGREEMENT 

This Amendment, dated as of November 17, 2015, by and between Airgas, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), and
Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. is to the Rights Agreement, dated as of May 8, 2007, between the Company and The Bank of New York as initial rights agent, as supplemented by the Transfer Agent Services Agreement, dated as of December 5, 2011,
by and between the Company and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (the “Rights Agent”), as successor to The Bank of New York (the “Rights Agreement”). Capitalized terms used herein and not otherwise defined shall have the
meaning ascribed to such term in the Rights Agreement. 
 RECITALS 

WHEREAS, the Company and the Rights Agent have executed and entered into the Rights Agreement; 

WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 27 of the Rights Agreement, the Company and the Rights Agent may from time to time supplement or amend the
Rights Agreement in accordance with the provisions thereof at the direction of the Company, provided, among other things, that the interests of the holders of Rights are not adversely affected; 

WHEREAS, the Company proposes to enter into an Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of the date hereof (the “Merger
Agreement”), by and among the Company, L’Air Liquide, S.A. (“Parent”) and AL Acquisition Corporation (“Merger Sub”), pursuant to which Merger Sub will merge with and into the Company (the
“Merger”) with the Company surviving as a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent; 
 WHEREAS, as an inducement to Parent’s
willingness to enter into the Merger Agreement and incur the obligations set forth therein, certain stockholders of the Company are entering into a stockholder support agreement (the “Stockholder Support Agreement”) relating to
certain transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement; and 
 WHEREAS, the Board of Directors of the Company has determined and resolved
that it is in the best interest of the Company and its stockholders to amend the Rights Agreement as set forth below to provide, among other things, that the execution, delivery and performance of the Merger Agreement and the Stockholder Support
Agreement and the transactions contemplated thereby will not result in any Person becoming an Acquiring Person or have any triggering effect on the Rights; 

NOW, THEREFORE, the Rights Agreement is hereby amended as follows: 
  

	 	1.	Amendment of Section 1. Section 1 of the Rights Agreement is hereby amended and supplemented to add the following definitions in the appropriate locations: 

“Amendment” shall mean the Amendment to this Agreement, dated as of November 17, 2015; 

“Parent” shall mean L’Air Liquide, S.A.; 

 “Merger” shall mean the Merger as such term is defined in the Merger Agreement; 

“Merger Agreement” shall mean the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of November, 17, 2015, by and among the Company, AL
Acquisition Corporation and Parent, as it may be amended from time to time; 
 “Stockholder Support Agreement” shall mean the
letter agreement, dated as of November 17, 2015, by and among Parent and the other signatories thereto. 
  

	 	2.	Amendment of “Acquiring Person” definition. The definition of Acquiring Person in Section 1(a) of the Rights Agreement is hereby replaced in its entirety with the following: 

(a) “Acquiring Person” shall mean any Person who or which, together with all Affiliates and Associates of such Person, shall be the
Beneficial Owner of ten percent (10%) or more of the shares of Common Stock then outstanding, but shall not include (i) any Exempt Person or (ii) any McCausland Group Member if and so long as such McCausland Group Member, together
with its Affiliates and Associates and all other McCausland Group Members, is not the Beneficial Owner of twenty percent (20%) or more of the shares of Common Stock then outstanding. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no Person who, as of the later
of the effective time of the Amendment and the public announcement of the Amendment, is the Beneficial Owner of ten percent (10%) or more of the Common Stock of the Company then outstanding shall become an Acquiring Person unless such
Person shall either (x), after the later of the effective time of the Amendment and the public announcement of the Amendment, increase its Beneficial Ownership of the then-outstanding Common Stock (other than as a result of an acquisition of Common
Stock by the Company) to an amount equal to or greater than the greater of (x) ten percent (10%) or (y) the sum of (i) the lowest Beneficial Ownership of such Person as a percentage of the outstanding Common Stock as of any time
from and after the effective time of the Amendment plus (ii) 0.001% or (y) at any time while such Person continues to have Beneficial Ownership of ten percent (10%) or more of the shares of Common Stock then outstanding, exercise any
unexercised options, conversion rights, exchange rights, rights (other than the Rights), warrants or Derivatives Contract. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no Person shall become an “Acquiring Person” as the result of an acquisition of
beneficial ownership of shares of Common Stock by the Company that, by reducing the number of shares of Common Stock (or securities convertible into or exchangeable for shares of Common Stock) then outstanding, increases the percentage of shares of
Common Stock beneficially owned by such Person (together with all Affiliates and Associates of such Person) to ten percent (10%) or more (or, in the case of a McCausland Group 

 
Member, twenty percent (20%) or more) of the shares of Common Stock then outstanding; provided, however, that if a Person (other than Exempt Persons) (together with all Affiliates and
Associates of such Person) shall become the Beneficial Owner of ten percent (10%) or more (or, in the case of a McCausland Group Member, twenty percent (20%) or more) of the shares of Common Stock then outstanding by reason of share
purchases by the Company and shall, after such share purchases by the Company, become the Beneficial Owner of any additional shares of Common Stock of the Company, then such Person shall be an “Acquiring Person.” Notwithstanding the
foregoing, if the Board determines in good faith that a Person who would otherwise be an “Acquiring Person” as defined pursuant to the first sentence of this paragraph (a), has become such inadvertently, and such Person divests as promptly
as practicable, or agrees in writing with the Company to divest, a sufficient number of shares of Common Stock so that such Person would no longer be an “Acquiring Person,” as defined pursuant to the foregoing provisions of this paragraph
(a), then such Person shall not, solely as a result of such inadvertent acquisition, be deemed to be an “Acquiring Person” for any purpose of this Agreement. As used above, “McCausland Group Member” shall mean (i) Peter
McCausland, (ii) the spouse of Peter McCausland or any of his issue, (iii) any guardian, representative, executor, estate, administrator or agent of such Persons, acting in their capacity as such, but only with respect to any shares of
Common Stock beneficially owned by such Persons, (iv) any trust for the benefit of Peter McCausland’s spouse or issue or (v) any corporation, partnership, limited liability company or other entity which Peter McCausland controls
either as general partner or owner of more than fifty percent (50%) of the issued and outstanding voting securities, so long as, in any such case set forth in the foregoing clauses (iv) and (v), Peter McCausland, as trustee or in some
other capacity, retains sole voting power with respect to any shares of Common Stock transferred to such trust, corporation, limited liability company or other entity. Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, neither Parent nor
any of its Subsidiaries, Affiliates or Associates shall be deemed to be an Acquiring Person solely by virtue of (i) the approval, execution or delivery of the Merger Agreement or the Stockholder Support Agreement or any related agreements or
the exercise of rights thereunder, (ii) consummation of the Merger, (iii) the consummation of any other transaction contemplated in the Merger Agreement and related agreements or (iv) the public announcement of any of the foregoing.

	 	3.	Amendment of “Beneficial Owner”, “beneficially own” and “beneficial ownership” definitions. Section 1(f) of the Rights Agreement is hereby amended to delete the word
“or” at the end of clause (ii), to add “; or” at the end of clause (iii) and to insert, immediately after clause (iii) a new clause (iv) as follows: 

(iv) which are beneficially owned, directly or indirectly, by a Counterparty (or any of such Counterparty’s Affiliates or Associates)
under any Derivatives Contract (without regard to any short or similar position under the same or any other Derivatives Contract) to which such Person or any of such Person’s Affiliates or Associates is a Receiving Party (as such terms are
defined in the immediately following paragraph); provided, however, that the number of Common Shares that a Person is deemed to Beneficially Own pursuant to this clause (iv) in connection with a particular Derivatives Contract
shall not exceed the number of Notional Common Shares with respect to such Derivatives Contract; provided, further, that the number of securities beneficially owned by each Counterparty (including its Affiliates and Associates) under a
Derivatives Contract shall for purposes of this clause (iv) be deemed to include all securities that are beneficially owned, directly or indirectly, by any other Counterparty (or any of such other Counterparty’s Affiliates or Associates)
under any Derivatives Contract to which such first Counterparty (or any of such first Counterparty’s Affiliates or Associates) is a Receiving Party, with this proviso being applied to successive Counterparties as appropriate. 

A “Derivatives Contract” is a contract between two parties (the “Receiving Party” and the
“Counterparty”) that is designed to produce economic benefits and risks to the Receiving Party that correspond substantially to the ownership by the Receiving Party of a number of Common Shares specified or referenced in such
contract (the number corresponding to such economic benefits and risks, the “Notional Common Shares”), regardless of whether obligations under such contract are required or permitted to be settled through the delivery of cash,
Common Shares or other property, without regard to any short position under the same or any other Derivatives Contract. For the avoidance of doubt, interests in broad-based index options, broad-based index futures and broad-based publicly traded
market baskets of stocks approved for trading by the appropriate federal governmental authority shall not be deemed to be Derivatives Contracts. 
  

	 	4.	Amendment of Section 3(a). Section 3(a) of the Rights Agreement is hereby amended by replacing the words “fifteen percent (15%)” with “ten percent (10%)”. 

 

	 	5.	Amendment of Section 7(a). Section 7(a) of the Rights Agreement is hereby modified and amended to add the following sentence at the end thereof: 

Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event the Effective Time (as defined in the Merger Agreement) shall occur, the term “Financial
Expiration Date” shall be deemed to be immediately prior to the Effective Time (as defined in the Merger Agreement). 

	 	6.	Amendment of Section 30. Section 30 of the Rights Agreement is hereby modified and amended to add the following sentence at the end thereof: 

Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to give any holder of Rights or any other Person any legal or equitable rights, remedies or claims
under this Agreement by virtue of (i) the approval, execution or delivery of the Merger Agreement or the Stockholder Support Agreement or any related agreements or the exercise or rights thereunder, (ii) the consummation of the Merger,
(iii) the consummation of any of the other transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement and related agreements or (iv) the public announcement of any of the foregoing. 

 

	 	7.	Addition of Section 35. The Rights Agreement is hereby further modified and amended by adding a new Section 35 to the end thereof to read in its entirety as follows: 

Section 35. Merger Agreement. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, neither the approval, execution or delivery of
the Merger Agreement or the Stockholder Support Agreement nor the consummation of the Merger or other transactions, contemplated by the Merger Agreement or the Stockholder Support Agreement is or shall be deemed to be an event described in
Section 11(a)(ii) or Section 13 hereof, nor will such performance or consummation result in the occurrence of a Stock Acquisition Date, a Distribution Date or any other separation of the Rights from the underlying Common Stock, nor entitle
or permit the holders of the Rights to exercise the Rights or otherwise affect the rights of the holders of the Rights, including giving the holders of the Rights the right to acquire securities of any party to the Merger Agreement or the
Stockholder Support Agreement. 
  

	 	8.	This Amendment shall be and become effective immediately prior to the execution and delivery of the Merger Agreement. If the Merger Agreement is terminated without the Effective Time (as defined in the Merger Agreement)
having occurred, then Paragraph 1, the last sentence of the text set forth under Paragraph 2, Paragraph 5, Paragraph 6 and Paragraph 7 of this Amendment shall thereafter be null and void. Except as amended hereby, all terms and provisions of the
Rights Agreement as in effect on the date hereof are hereby ratified, approved and confirmed. Any future reference to the Rights Agreement shall be deemed to be a reference to the Rights Agreement as amended hereby. 

 

	 	9.	This Amendment may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which shall be an original, but such counterparts shall together constitute one and the same instrument. 

 

	 	10.	 This Amendment shall be deemed to be a contract made under the laws of the State of Delaware and for all purposes shall be governed by and construed
in accordance with the laws of such State applicable to contracts to be made and performed entirely within such 

	 	
State. If any provision, covenant or restriction of this Amendment is held by a court of competent jurisdiction or other authority to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, the remainder of the
terms, provisions, covenants and restrictions of this Amendment shall remain in full force and effect and shall in no way be effected, impaired or invalidated. 

[Remainder of page intentionally left blank] 

 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, this Amendment has been duly executed by the Company and the Rights Agent as of the day and
year first written above. 
  

					
	AIRGAS, INC.
		
	By:	 	 /s/ Joseph C. Sullivan

			
		 	Name:	 	Joseph C. Sullivan
			
		 	Title:	 	Vice President & Treasurer

 [Signature page to Rights Agreement Amendment] 

 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, this Amendment has been duly executed by the Company and the Rights Agent as of the day and
year first written above. 
  

			
	WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A.
		
	By:	 	 /s/ Todd J. Mat

		
	Name:	 	Todd J. Mat
		
	Title:	 	Senior Vice President

 [Signature page to Rights Agreement Amendment]EX-10.1

 Exhibit 10.1 

EXECUTION VERSION 

Support/Voting Agreement 
 L’Air
Liquide, S.A. 
 75, quai d’Orsay 
 75007 Paris, France

 November 17, 2015 
  

	 	Re:	Support/Voting Agreement 

 Ladies & Gentlemen: 

Each of the undersigned understands that L’Air Liquide, a société anonyme organized under the laws of
France(“Parent”), AL Acquisition Corporation, a Delaware corporation and an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Parent (“Merger Sub”), and Airgas, Inc.(the “Company”) are entering into an Agreement
and Plan of Merger, dated the date hereof (the “Merger Agreement”), providing for, among other things, the merger of Merger Sub with and into the Company (the “Merger”), with the Company to survive the Merger as a
wholly owned subsidiary of Parent, upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement. 
 Peter McCausland and Bonnie McCausland
(collectively, the “Stockholders”) are entering into this letter agreement simultaneously with the execution and delivery of the Merger Agreement. Capitalized terms not defined in this letter agreement shall have the meaning
assigned to them in the Merger Agreement. 
 Each Stockholder confirms its agreement as follows: 

 

	 	1.	Each Stockholder represents, warrants and agrees that Schedule I annexed hereto sets forth the shares of the common stock of the Company of which the Stockholder or any of its controlled affiliates (its
“Controlled Affiliates”; “controlled” and “affiliate” as defined under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) is the record or beneficial owner (the “Shares”) and that the Stockholder
and its Controlled Affiliates are on the date hereof the lawful owners of the number of Shares set forth in Schedule I, free and clear of all liens, charges, encumbrances, voting agreements and commitments of every kind, except as disclosed in
Schedule I. Except for the Shares set forth in Schedule I, as of the date hereof, neither a Stockholder nor any of its Controlled Affiliates own or hold any rights to acquire any additional shares of the capital stock of the Company (other than
pursuant to any Company Benefit Plan) or any interest therein or any voting rights with respect to any additional shares. 

  

	 	2.	 Each Stockholder agrees that during the term of this letter agreement it will not, will not permit any company, trust or other entity controlled by
the Stockholder to, and will not permit any of its Controlled Affiliates to, contract to sell, sell or otherwise transfer or dispose of any of the Shares or any interest therein or securities convertible thereinto or any voting rights with respect

	 	
thereto (a “Transfer”), other than (i) any Transfer made solely for estate planning purposes or to a charitable institution solely for philanthropic purposes or any Transfer
between [P family members], but only if, prior to the effectiveness of such Transfer, the transferee agrees in writing to be bound by all of the terms of this letter agreement (ii) pursuant to the Merger, (iii) with Parent’s prior
written consent, (iv) any Transfer as a result of the foreclosure or other action taken by the pledgee with respect to such Shares pursuant to a share pledge disclosed in Schedule I or (v) to the extent contractually required as of the
time immediately preceding the execution of this letter agreement, to the extent such contractual requirement is disclosed in Schedule I. 

  

	 	3.	During the term of this letter agreement, each Stockholder agrees that all of the Shares beneficially owned by the Stockholder or its Controlled Affiliates (except, in each case, Shares subject to an unexercised Company
Option), or over which the Stockholder or any of its Controlled Affiliates has voting power or control, directly or indirectly (including any common shares of the Company acquired after the date hereof), at the record date for any meeting of
stockholders of the Company called to consider and vote to adopt the Merger Agreement and/or approve the Merger and the other transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement and/or any Company Takeover Proposal will be voted by the Stockholder or
its Controlled Affiliates (i) in favor of the adoption of the Merger Agreement and approval the Merger and the other transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, (ii) in favor of any proposal to adjourn a meeting of the stockholders
of the Company to solicit additional proxies to be voted in favor of the adoption of the Merger Agreement and approval the Merger and the other transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, (iii) against any Company Takeover Proposal, and
(iv) against any other action, agreement or transaction that is intended to, or could reasonably be expected to, materially impede the Merger and the other transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement. 

 

	 	4.	 During the term of this letter agreement, each Stockholder (solely in its, his or her capacity as a stockholder of the Company) shall not, shall cause
each of its, his or her Controlled Affiliates not to, and shall use reasonable best efforts to cause its, his or her Representatives not to, directly or indirectly, (i) knowingly solicit, initiate, encourage or facilitate any inquiries
regarding, or the making of any proposal or offer that constitutes a Company Takeover Proposal, (ii) engage in, continue or otherwise participate in any discussions or negotiations regarding, or furnish to any other person any information in
connection with or for the purpose of encouraging or facilitating a Company Takeover Proposal (other than, solely in response to an unsolicited inquiry, to ascertain facts from the person making such Company Takeover Proposal for the sole purpose of
allowing the Company Board of Directors to inform itself about Company Takeover Proposal and the person that made it and to refer the inquiring person to this Section 4 and/or Section 5.3 of the Merger Agreement and to limit its, his or
her conversation or other communication exclusively to such referral and such ascertaining of facts). Notwithstanding 

	 	
the foregoing, nothing herein shall prevent any Stockholder or any Representative of any Stockholder from (a) acting in his capacity as an officer or director of the Company or from taking
or participating in any action otherwise precluded pursuant to this letter agreement that such person is entitled to take pursuant to the Merger Agreement in his capacity as an officer or director of the Company or (b) engaging in, or
otherwise participating, in discussions or negotiations with the person making such Company Takeover Proposal and its Representatives regarding entering into a voting and support agreement or similar agreement with respect to such Company Takeover
Proposal if (x) prior to such discussions or negotiations, the Company determines pursuant to Section 5.3(c) of the Merger Agreement that a Company Takeover Proposal constitutes or would reasonably be expected to lead to a Company Superior
Proposal and (y) during the course of any discussions or negotiations between the Stockholder and any such person, the Company does not materially breach the obligations applicable to the Company and its Representatives set forth in
Section 5.3 of the Merger Agreement. Without limiting any remedies available to Parent under the Merger Agreement, it is acknowledged and agreed that no Stockholder shall have any liability for a violation of this Section 4.

  

	 	5.	Each Stockholder has all necessary power and authority to enter into this letter agreement. Assuming that this letter agreement is a legal, valid and binding agreement of Parent and each other Stockholder, this letter
agreement is the legal, valid and binding agreement of each Stockholder, and is enforceable against each Stockholder in accordance with its terms. 

  

	 	6.	Each Stockholder agrees that damages are an inadequate remedy for the breach by the Stockholder of any term or condition of this letter agreement and that Parent shall be entitled to a temporary restraining order and
preliminary and permanent injunctive relief in order to enforce the agreements herein. 

  

	 	7.	Except to the extent that the laws of the jurisdiction of organization of any party hereto, or any other jurisdiction, are mandatorily applicable to matters arising under or in connection with this letter agreement,
this letter agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of Delaware. All actions and proceedings arising out of or relating to this letter agreement shall be heard and determined in the Delaware Court of Chancery and any state appellate
court therefrom within the State of Delaware (or, if the Delaware Court of Chancery declines to accept jurisdiction over a particular matter, any state or federal court within the State of Delaware). 

 

	 	8.	Each of the parties hereto irrevocably submits to the personal jurisdiction of the aforesaid courts for the purpose of any action or proceeding arising out of or relating to this letter agreement and agrees that it will
not bring any action relating to this letter agreement in any court other than the aforesaid courts. Nothing in this Section 8 shall affect the right of any party hereto to serve legal process in any other manner permitted by law.

	 	9.	This letter agreement constitutes the entire agreement among the parties hereto with respect to the matters covered hereby and supersedes all prior agreements, understandings or representations among the parties written
or oral, with respect to the subject matter hereof. 

  

	 	10.	This letter agreement may be executed in two or more counterparts, each of which shall be an original, with the same effect as if the signatures thereto and hereto were upon the same instrument, and shall become
effective when one or more counterparts have been signed by each of the parties and delivered (by telecopy, electronic delivery or otherwise) to the other parties. Signatures to this letter agreement transmitted by facsimile transmission, by
electronic mail in “portable document format” (“.pdf”) form, or by any other electronic means intended to preserve the original graphic and pictorial appearance of a document will have the same effect as physical delivery of the
paper document bearing the original signature. 

 This letter agreement shall terminate automatically without any further action by any party
hereto upon the earlier of (i) the date on which the Merger Agreement is terminated and (ii) the Effective Time. 
 Please confirm that the
foregoing correctly states the understanding between us by signing and returning to me a counterpart hereof. 

 
					
	Very truly yours,
		
	By:	 	 /s/ Peter McCausland

		 	Name:	 	Peter McCausland
		
	By:	 	 /s/ Bonnie McCausland

		 	Name:	 	Bonnie McCausland

					
	 Confirmed on the date
 first above
written.

	
	L’AIR LIQUIDE, S.A.
		
	By:	 	 /s/ Benoît Potier

		 	Name:	 	Benoît Potier
		 	Title:	 	Chairman and CEO

 Schedule I 

Stock Ownership 
 As of November 17,
2015 
  

					
	 Stockholder
	  	Number of Shares	 
	 Peter McCausland
	  	 	665,152	* 
	 Bonnie McCausland
	  	 	501,500	* 
	 Peter McCausland and Bonnie McCausland jointly
	  	 	5,629,535	* 

  

	*	Certain of such shares are pledged as collateral for a $150 million line of credit.

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