The largest privately-owned industrial gases company Messer has become the sole owner of Messer Industries having acquired all shares in the company from minority owner CVC Capital Partners Fund VII.
Announced today, 14th November, the takeover will also involve GIC – a global institutional investor – becoming Messer’s new strategic partner as a long-term minority shareholder.
According to the company, the deal is part of an overarching plan to bring together its global activities under one roof to implement a sustainable growth strategy as an integrated gases specialist.
The acquisition marks the end of the partnership between Messer and CVC Capital Partners (CVC) on the previous joint venture, which comprised Messer’s companies in North and South America in addition to Western Europe.
Messer began the takeover process in May of this year when it announced its intention to acquire all shares in the business from CVC.
Read more:Messer takes on full ownership of joint venture Messer Industries
With the now approved partnership with GIC and the full acquisition of Messer Industries, Bernd Eulitz, CEO of Messer, sees an opportunity for the company to open a new chapter in its 125-year corporate history.
“As a gases group successful in Asia, Europe and the Americas, we will be even stronger and drive forward our ambitious plans with GIC as our new partner. Messer has enormous potential with its 11,000 employees worldwide. We want to move closer to the big players in the industry as the number one challenger,” enthused Eulitz.
Global growth
The move is set to bolster the company’s aim to take advantage of major opportunities in all its global business areas and to expand its focus on collaboration in the wake of the green energy transition.
Some of these major opportunities lie in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, a long-standing powerhouse of the global gases business.
Brimming with possibilities – some of which remain untapped – APAC presents a wealth of potential for not only the established industrial gases sector, but also for businesses looking to harness the full capacity of the ever-evolving energy transition.
Against this backdrop of opportunity, gasworld will host its APAC Industrial Gases Conference 2023 next month from 5th – 7th December at the Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel & Convention Centre in Malaysia.
Former Messer CEO and recently appointed Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Messer Management SE, Stefan Messer, will deliver a keynote speech at gasworld’s APAC Industrial Gases Conference 2023
