Air Liquide has signed a binding agreement with Macquarie Asia-Pacific Infrastructure Fund 2 to buy leading South Korean industrial gas company DIG Airgas for KW4.6trn ($3.3bn).
Confirmation of the deal, which is expected to close in the first semester of 2026, comes after the French industrial gases major was shortlisted for the final bidding round last month.
Air Liquide said the acquisition “substantially strengthens” its market position in South Korea, which is the sixth largest manufacturing country by GDP and fourth largest industrial gas market.
François Jackow, CEO of Air Liquide, said the deal demonstrates its ability to invest strategically for profitable growth in Asia – particularly in the fast-growing electronics sector – and cited three key reasons for the purchase.
“Driven by its outstanding innovation and manufacturing capabilities, Korea is leading the next waves of development in key sectors like the semiconductors industry, clean energy and mobility,” he said.
“Second, because it will enable us to build a reference player in the Republic of Korea. Not only are we perfectly complementary in our footprint and activities, but DIG Airgas also already boasts a backlog of nearly 20 secured projects. Finally, this opportunity, which we were able to seize thanks to our strong balance sheet, our ability to leverage synergies and our operational global footprint, will contribute to the net profit growth of the group as soon as one year after integration.”
DIG Airgas, founded in 1979, has grown into a company with €510m annual turnover and operating 60 plants along with 220km of pipeline networks.
Its well-diversified business portfolio includes operations in all major industrial basins, supplying essential industrial gases to key customers across various sectors.
Under Macquarie Asset Management’s ownership over the last six years, DIG has become one of the largest industrial gas players in Korea and has successfully diversified its customer base and expanded into new growth industries such as semiconductor and secondary batteries.
Air Liquide previously said the continued growth of electronics production in Asia is boosting its projects pipeline for the high-purity carrier gases that serve this market.
In June, it announced plans to build an ultra-high-purity air gases plant in Singapore.