Industrial gas major Air Liquide has completed the $3.3bn acquisition of DIG Airgas, an industrial gas producer in South Korea, which it announced in August.
With the deal’s closure, Air Liquide will double its workforce in South Korea and reach around €900m of combined sales as it looks to build on its 30-year footprint in the market, and capitalise further on Asia-Pacific’s growing industrial gas potential.
François Jackow, CEO of Air Liquide, said the deal demonstrated the company’s ability to invest strategically for profitable growth in Asia – particularly in the fast-growing electronics sector – and gave three 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 operates 60 plants along with 220km of pipeline networks.
South Korea is the sixth largest manufacturing country by GDP and fourth largest industrial gas market.
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