Messer-CVC finalise Americas acquisitions

The acquisitions are effective today, 1^st March (2019).

The joint venture – called Messer Industries – is investing around $3.6bn (€3.2bn) in the acquisitions, which provide Messer with the ‘unique opportunity’ to return to the North and South American markets.

A period of investor instability and restructuring of the Messer Group under its former guise in the early 2000s saw two-thirds of the company sold off in 2004 – including industrial gas operations in the UK, US and Germany.

Now, however, in partnership with CVC, the Messer Group has the opportunity to re-enter the Americas markets, as owner and CEO Stefan Messer explains, “In creating this strategic partnership, we are seizing a unique opportunity to return to the North and South American markets. This will turn Messer into a global player in this sector and consolidate its position as the largest family-run industrial gases specialist worldwide.”

“It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

“We intend to fully integrate the joint venture into the family-run Messer Group within a few years,” he added. “In the medium term, we want to use the merger of the two companies to become a global player again with a presence in the relevant industrial gases markets.”

“It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity…We intend to fully integrate the joint venture into the family-run Messer Group within a few years”

Stefan Messer

With some 5,400 employees, the Linde activities acquired in the US, Canada, Brazil and Colombia, along with Praxair’s Chilean operation, generated sales of around $1.8bn (€1.6bn) with EBITDA of approximately $408m (€359m) in 2018.