Industrial gases specialist Messer did acquire the majority of Linde AG’s gases business in North America and certain Linde and Praxair business activities in South America with effect from 1 March 2019 in a joint venture – called Messer Industries GmbH – with CVC Capital Partners Fund VII (“CVC”). Messer Industries is investing a total of around 3.6 billion US dollars (3.2 billion euros). Messer is contributing the majority of its Western European companies to the joint venture.
“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 world’s largest family-run industrial gases specialist. It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” says Stefan Messer, owner and CEO of Messer. “We intend to fully integrate the joint venture into the family-owned Messer Group within a few years. In the medium term, we want to use the merger of the two companies to become a global player again with a presence in all relevant industrial gases markets.” With some 5,400 employees, the Linde companies acquired in the USA, Canada, Brazil and Columbia along with Praxair’s Chilean operation generated sales of 1.8 billion US dollars (1.6 billion euros) with EBITDA of approximately 400 million US dollars (353 million euros) in 2018.
Messer Group is contributing the majority of its Western European companies in Benelux, Denmark, Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland and Portugal as well as its Algerian entity to the joint venture. Around 830 employees in the region generated sales of 339 million euros and EBITDA of 54 million euros for Messer Group GmbH in 2018.
The Messer Group
Messer was founded in 1898 and today is the world's largest owner-managed specialist for industrial, medical and specialty gases. Under the brand 'Messer - Gases for Life' the company offers products and services in a total of 40 countries in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The international activities are directed from Bad Soden near Frankfurt am Main. Stefan Messer, CEO and owner of the Messer Group, works together with the 11,000* employees worldwide according to defined principles. These include customer and employee orientation, responsible behaviour, corporate responsibility, excellence as well as trust and respect. The Messer Group GmbH generated consolidated sales of 1.3 billion euros in 2018.
* incl. as of 01.03.2019 at equity consolidated Messer Industries GmbH
CVC Capital Partners
CVC Capital Partners is a leading private equity and investment advisory firm. Established in 1981, the company now has over 450 employees at 24 offices in Europe, Asia and the USA. At the moment, CVC has a total of more than US$69 billion of invested assets under management. CVC funds are presently invested in some 72 companies worldwide with more than 200,000 employees across numerous locations. All together, these portfolio companies represent total sales of over US$150 billion. Further information on CVC can be found at: www.cvc.com.
Photographic material:
Photographs relating to the Messer Group can be downloaded in print quality from the press area at www.messergroup.com.
