One Hundred Years of Success the Winning Ingredients

From 1992 to 2004, sales in the industrial gases industry increased on average by seven percent p.a. The level of growth has been consistently higher than in specialties (4.9%) and commodities (4.1%).4) 

Since gas players have invested cautiously despite continuous growth, they have managed to increase their capital productivity and prevent value leakage during the last five years. Compared with specialty chemicals companies, industrial gases players have shown a relatively stable market-to-book ratio over the last ten years. Current valuation levels are driven by a relatively stable operating performance and substantial growth expectations. 

Industrial gases has been a growth industry ever since its beginnings. Keys to success were (and still are) technical innovations as well as an extraordinary ability to adapt to ever-changing market requirements - even reinventing the business in times of market discontinuities. 

The industry got its start in 1895 when Dr. Carl von Linde, a pioneer in refrigeration technology, received the first patent for the liquefaction and rectification of air into its major components oxygen and nitrogen (Almqvist, E., IOMA). Georges Claude soon developed this work further in Paris, France, improving the efficiency of the liquefaction process. 

4) McKinsey Chemicals Long-term Performance Database 

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