Air Liquide

This article is about the multinational industrial gas company. For the electronic band, see Air Liquide (band).

Air Liquide S.A.

An Air Liquide industrial plant
Company type	Société Anonyme
Traded as	Euronext: AI CAC 40 Component
Industry	Chemicals, Health care, Engineering
Predecessor	AG für Kohlensäure-Industrie Air Liquide Austria
Founded	1902 (1902)
Founder	Paul Delorme
Headquarters	Quai d'Orsay, 7th arrondissement, Paris, France
Key people	Benoît Potier (Chairman and CEO)
Products	Industrial gases, fine chemicals
Revenue	€21.92 billion (2019)
Operating income	€3.794 billion (2019)
Net income	€2.242 billion (2019)
Total assets	€63.9 billion (2020)
Total equity	€18.207 billion (end 2018)
Number of employees	67,200 (2018)
Website	www.airliquide.com

Air Liquide S.A. (French pronunciation: [ɛʁ likid]; /ˌɛər lɪˈkiːd/; literally "liquid air"), is a French multinational company which supplies industrial gases and services to various industries including medical, chemical and electronic manufacturers. Founded in 1902, after Linde it is the second largest supplier of industrial gases by revenues and has operations in over 80 countries. It has headquarters at the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France. Air Liquide owned the patent for Aqua-Lung until it expired.

Although Air Liquide's headquarters are in Paris, France, it also has major sites in Japan (ALL) and Houston, TX and Newark, DE, USA, Frankfurt, Shanghai and Dubaï. There is an emphasis on research and development (R&D) throughout the Air Liquide company. R&D targets the creation of not only industrial gases, but also gases that are used in products such as healthcare items, electronic chips, foods, and chemicals. The major R&D groups within Air Liquide focus on analysis, bioresources (foods and chemicals), combustion, membranes, modeling, and the production of hydrogen (H₂) gas.

The company is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index. As of 2019, the company is ranked 500 in the Fortune Global 500.

History

Historical Milestones

1900 - 1930: Creation and introduction to the Paris Stock Exchange

On May 25, 1902 after two years of research. Georges Claude developed a process for liquefying air in order to separate the components (oxygen, nitrogen, argon), On November 8, 1902, Paul Delorme gathered twenty-four subscribers, mainly engineers, to financially support the project and became the first president of "Air liquide, a company for the study and exploitation of Georges Claude processes". The company originally had a capital of 100,000 francs.

In 1906, Air Liquide jump-started its international expansion by developing operations in  first in Belgium and Italy, followed by Canada, Japan and Hong Kong.

On February 20, 1913, Air Liquide was listed on the Paris Stock Exchange.

1930 - 1950: International development and innovations

By 1930, the company’s growth was successful with virtually no debt, where debt securities issuance represented only 15% of the company's resources. In 1928, Air Liquide was ranked 17th in terms of market capitalization, but rose to 6th in 1936 after the rise of French industrial companies on the stock market.

In 1938, Air liquide acquired La oxígena S.A.and started its activities in Argentina.

In 1943, under the aegis of engineer Émile Gagnan (an employee of Air liquide) and Lieutenant-Commander (ship-of-the-Line Lieutenant) Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Air liquide manufactured scuba sets prototypes, that Cousteau and Frédéric Dumas used to shoot the underwater film Épaves (Shipwrecks), directed by Cousteau the same year. They were the first modern diving regulators.

In 1945, after the Second World War, Jean Delorme, the son of Paul Delorme and the second president of the group, wanted to renovate and develop industrial tools. In 1946, Air Liquide founded La Spirotechnique , a design and marketing company for regulators and other diving equipment. The same year, La Spirotechnique launched the CG45, the first modern diving regulator to be marketed. This marked the beginning of the popularization of scuba diving.

1950’s: Large industries and Space research activities

In 1957, Air Liquide began its activity in the large industry and created networks of pipelines irrigating several large industrial basins in the world.

In the 1960s, the company acquired American Cryogenics, as well as several other American companies.

In 1962, Air Liquide launched its activities into the space industry.

In 1970, the company inaugurates the Claude-Delorme Research & Development Center, located in Les Loges-en-Josas (Yvelines) where over 250 researchers work in 35 laboratories, covering various research areas such as applied mathematics, clinical trials and process engineering. In March 2014, the group announced its intentions to expand and modernize the center.

In 1986, Air Liquide expanded into the United States with the acquisition of Big Three for $1.05 billion, a US-based company with operations in many countries across Europe and Asia. That same year, it acquired SEPPIC, a French specialty chemicals company, as part of its activities in the healthcare sector.

1990 - 2010: Creation of Air Liquide Healthcare and acquisition strategy in the health sector

In 1995, Air Liquide created Air Liquide Healthcare, a structure fully dedicated to the medical sector and specializing in the supply of medical gases, material and services for  hospitals, and patient homes,

In 1996, Air Liquide acquired the German company Schuelke and May.

Since the 2000 decade, Air Liquide increased significantly its investments in hydrogen production plants, with an increase by more than 50% between 2005 and 2008, making it one of the major segment of its offer.

In 2001, Suez-Lyonnaise des Eaux unsuccessfully attempted to acquire Air liquide.

In 2001, Air Liquide acquired Messer Griesheim's operations  in South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, Canada, Egypt, Argentina and Brazil for € 185 million. That same year, Air Liquide acquired the remaining  the 57% it did not yet hold from Hede Nielsen, a Danish company, which it had partially bought back in the 1990s.

In 2003, Air Liquide formed a joint venture with The BOC Group in Japan, thus creating Japan Air Gases (JAG) and strengthening the group's presence in the Far East.

In 2004, Air Liquide acquired two-thirds of Messer Griesheim's global activities, consisting of operations in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, for $ 2.7 billion. Shortly after, it resold some of the US activities.

In 2005, Air Liquide acquired the remaining 13.2% in the Far East Oxygen and Acetylene Company (SOAEO), for an approximatly amount of € 150 million.

In 2007, Air Liquide acquired the activities of Linde Gas in the United Kingdom, as well as the German engineering company, Lurgi, for € 550 million, which doubled the engineering capacity of the group. During the same year, it acquired Scott Specialty Gases, LLC.

In early 2008, Air Liquide entered a long-term contract with Neste Oil’s Renewable Diesel Plant to supply hydrogen.

In 2012, Air Liquide created a joint venture with the Belgian group Solvay, to produce fluorinated gases for flat screens and photovoltaic panels.

In the same year, it acquired a production unit located in Louisiana, owned by the American company Georgia Gulf, 75% of the Russian Logika company, as well as LVL Medical, and the Spanish company Gasmedi, the third company in Spain in the home health sector, for € 330 millions.

Recent developments

In 2013, Air Liquide created ALIAD, a venture capital investor, with the objective to invest in start-ups and future technologies specializing in the energy transition, health and digital sectors. The company was established the same year in the Air Liquide innovation laboratory in Paris, the i-Lab, launched in 2013 to support and share innovation across the group.

As part of the development project for the Paris-Saclay Scientific and Technological Center, the company became a partner of two research and training institutes. Since then, it has been hosting the PS2E Institute (Paris-Saclay Energy Efficiency) at its Loges-en-Josas site, and has been supporting the Photovoltaic Institute of Ile-de-France (IPVF) by providing logistical resources.

On March 25, 2014, Air Liquide announced an equity investment, via ALIAD, the venture capital investor of the Group, in three companies specializing in sustainable and renewable energy: McPhy Energy, Solumix and Xylowatt. ALIAD also invested in startups specializing in the Internet of Things (Sigfox in 2015) and artificial intelligence (Proxem in 2016). In the four years following its creation, Aliad invests in more than 30 startups specializing in the energy transition, health and digital sectors.

In November 2015, Air Liquide announced it would acquire the American firm Airgas for a total of $13.4 billion, including debt. The Airgas shareholders approved Air Liquide's acquisition on February 23, 2016. On May 23, 2016, Air Liquide announced the completion of the acquisition of Airgas.

In December 2016, Air Liquide sold its subsidiary Aqua Lung International to Montagu Private Equity.

In 2016,  Air Liquide’s fund ALIAD notably took participation in Carmat, Inpria, Poly-Shape and Solidia Technologies. By June 2016, the total amount of investment made by ALIAD amounted to more than € 60 million. ALIAD’s investments focus on health, energy transition and high-tech start-up, and support them by setting up privileged R&D and business agreements.

In 2016, Air Liquide announced a new strategic plan called Neos, with an important focus on digital transformation. As part this project, the group opened two major remote operations centers : Saint-Priest, France, in 2017, and in Kuala Lumpur in 2018. The centers enable real-time analysis of the data and activities of connected factories and production units.

In May 2017, Air Liquide announced the sale of Welding, its subsidiary of 2,000 employees, specialized in the production of welding gas, to Lincoln Electric.

In August of the same year, Air Liquide took control of Skagerak Naturgass AG, a subsidiary of Skagerak Energi, producer of biomethane for vehicles in Norway Air Liquide had previously bought its Swedish counterpart Fordonsgas in 2014. Skagerak Energi belongs to Statkraft (“1st European producer of renewables” according to Air Liquide press release) Today, Air Liquide therefore has 54 biogas stations in northern Europe and it has installed one of the world's largest biogas liquefaction plants in Sweden (Lidkoping).

In 2017, Air Liquide signed an agreement with Cargill to build a biodiesel plant in Kansas, US. The operation is planned to start in January 2019 to produce 60 million gallons of biodiesel a year. Air Liquide and Cargill have already built six biodiesel plants together worldwide.

In January 2018, the group announced an investments of 150 million euros in Asia to finance the construction of ultra pure nitrogen production units, a "carrier gas" used in the composition of various electronic applications.

In February 2018, Air Liquide launched the world's largest oxygen production unit for Sasol, an international energy and chemicals company.

In September 2018, Air Liquide inaugurated its Paris Innovation Campus, located on the “Plateau de Saclay”, near Paris. The campus includes Air Liquide’s largest Research & Development Center, fully renovated with an investment of €50 million. On this occasion, Air Liquide announced the creation of a deep-tech start-up accelerator on the Innovation Campus by 2019.

At the end of 2018, Air Liquide announced its climate objectives and aims to reduce its carbon emissions by 30% by 2025. Among the measures stated: increase renewable electricity purchases by nearly 70%, improve the energy efficiency of production units and reduce the carbon footprint of products by 10%, by influencing both production and transport.

Corporate structure

Board of Directors

Comprised as follows as of February 2017:

• Benoît Potier, current CEO of Air Liquide (Chairman of the Board)
• Pierre Dufour, current CEO and Chairman of Airgas
• Thierry Desmarest, former CEO and Chairman of Total SA
• Thierry Peugeot, former Chairman of Groupe PSA
• Karen Katen, former Vice-Chairman and President of Human Health for Pfizer
• Jean-Paul Agon, current CEO and Chairman of L'Oreal
• Siân Herbert-Jones, current CFO of Sodexo
• Sin Leng Low, former COO and Chairman of Sembcorp
• Annette Winkler, current CEO of Smart Automobile
• Philippe Dubrulle, Air Liquide employee, representative of employees at the Board
• Geneviève Berger, former Chief Research Officer and Chief Science Officer for Unilever, former physician
• Brian Gilvary, current CFO of BP

Subsidiaries

Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions Germany GmbH (formerly Lurgi GmbH)

Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions GmbH (formerly Lurgi GmbH), a German engineering, construction, and chemical process licensing company. has been a part of Air Liquide S. A. since 2007. The head office is located in Frankfurt am Main. Lurgi was the cable address of Metallurgische Gesellschaft founded on 5 February 1897 with an origin dating to the technical branch of Metallgesellschaft, which had been established by Wilhelm Merton in 1881. By the end of World War I, the company had gained a foothold in the steam and absorption business and gathered expertise in the upgrading of solid fuels and the processing of the resulting gaseous and liquid products. As a consequence of this diversification, the company divided into process-specific subsidiaries, which beginning in 1919 traded under the name Lurgi. In 1923, they jointly moved into offices at Gervinusstrasse, Frankfurt am Main. To meet the requirements of the international markets, Lurgi constituted itself as a German stock corporation in 1990. Lurgi operated limited liability companies in chemistry, metallurgy and industry construction; energy and environmental techniques; and gas- and mineral oil techniques. Each company had their own engineering and commercial staff. In 1991, Lurgi pooled its polymer activities by taking over Zimmer AG from the British Davy-McKee AG as the fourth operating company. In 2001 Lurgi sold their metallurgical division (Lurgi Metallurgie) to Outokumpu. After acquisition by Air Liquide, the Zimmer technology portfolio was sold in 2014 to Technip.

Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions Germany today focuses on three primary technology portfolios:

• Alternative Technology based upon turning natural gas, coal, biomass into synthetic fuels through gasification, fischer-tropsch and proprietary methanol to synthetic fuels.
• Refinery Technology consisting of conventional methods.
• Renewable Technologies including biodiesel as well as bioethanol processes.

Financial data

Financial data in millions of euro

Year	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2015
Sales	8 328	7 900	8 399	9 400	10 435	10 949	16 330
EBITDA	1 833	1 960	1 975	2 084	2 415	2 567	4 262
Net Results	460	703	725	778	933	1 002	1 756
Net Debt	2 584	2 022	1 730	3 790	3 740	3 447	7 239
Research	146	150	146	150	162	173	282
Employees	30 800	30 800	31 900	35 900	35 900	36 900	50 000+

Source :OpesC

By 29 February 2016, the company had a share value of 33,434 million euros, distributed in 344,222,603 shares.

External links

• Official website
• Documents and clippings about Air Liquide in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW