Two Important Industrial Gas Enterprises Join under One Name a Year after Merging

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--On September 28, 2007, slightly over one year after the merger, the United States’ Linde BOC conglomerate came together and fused under one name, Linde Gas North America LLC. Although operations in Canada continue to use the company name BOC Canada Limited, it will not stay as such permanently. Canadian operations are expected to follow suit and accept a name change in January 2008.

Spanning six continents, the BOC Group (Surrey, England) was an established industrial gas company. The Linde Group (Munich, Germany) recognized an advantageous opportunity when it presented itself and obtained the BOC Group in September 2006. The acquisition catapulted the Linde Group to be one of the largest global industrial gas companies. For details, view related July 24, 2006, article - Linde-BOC Merge as Industrial Gas Aims for $52 Billion Global Market in 2008.

The new powerhouse company has undergone various changes since the acquisition’s completion. Within the terms of the merger, the Linde Group divested much of BOC’s interests that were not a part of its core interests. BOC Gazy, BOC’s polish gases activity, was sold to Air Products and Chemicals Incorporated (Allentown, Pennsylvania) while BOC Edwards’ component business was sold to private-equity firm CCMP Capital. BOC’s international ventures were also affected by divestment guidelines, including Indura and various joint ventures in Asia.

Airgas Incorporated (Cleveland, Ohio) acquired a specific component of Linde’s air-separation assets and renamed it as Airgas Merchant Gases LLC. Seven plants were affected, including air-separation plants in Canton and Dayton, Ohio; Carrollton and Jefferson, Georgia; Madison and Waukesha, Wisconsin; and Bozrah, Connecticut. Not only did Airgas gain Linde’s air-separation business but also is now inhabiting Linde’s former North American corporate office in Cleveland, Ohio. With Airgas in the Ohio building, Linde Gas has moved its North American corporate offices to Murray Hill, New Jersey, as a way to unite Linde Gas and the BOC Group Incorporated.

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