Linde in the Twenty-First Century

Abstract

At the turn of the millennium Linde acquired AGA, its Swedish competitor in the gas business. It was the most important acquisition in the company’s history. As in its early days, the global market for industrial gases was still an oligopoly, with the seven largest producers supplying 70 per cent of the world market. As of 1998, the truly dominant companies, however, were Air Liquide (with 17 per cent market share), BOC and Praxair (each with 14 per cent), and Air Products (9 per cent). AGA (6 per cent), Linde (5 per cent), and Messer (5 per cent) were the smaller players among the big seven. In the European gas market, too, Air Liquide had the largest market share (26 per cent), followed by Linde (13 per cent) and AGA and Messer (each with 11 per cent); BOC and Air Products each had 10 per cent market share, and Praxair 5 per cent. In the North and South American markets, Praxair had the strongest presence with 31 per cent, followed by Air Products with 15 per cent, Air Liquide with 14 per cent, and BOC with 11 per cent. Here, AGA (6 per cent), Messer (3 per cent), and Linde (2 per cent) ranked among the next-smallest suppliers. These international market structures had developed gradually over many years.