The complete history of the development of The - The Linde Group

But despite all efforts, the commercial refrigerated display
case business has to this day earned significantly lower margins
than the other business segments.
Pulling back from peripheral activities
In order to streamline its corporate structures, Linde, under the
leadership of Hans Meinhardt, spun off the Refrigerated Buildings
plant group into its own legally independent company in
1984 and sold it to Markt- und Kühlhallen AG in Hamburg in
exchange for additional shares in this company. This portfolio
clear-out also saw the sale of Kolben- und Turboverdichterbau
of Cologne, with 760 employees, to the Swedish machinery
builder Atlas Copco.
Technical gases: expansion and internationalization
In 1972, Linde AG strengthened its Low-Temperature Engineering
and Process Technology segment with the takeover of the
low- and ultra-low-temperature technology business of Messer
Griesheim GmbH. In exchange, Linde transferred its welding
technology division (Ellira) to Messer Griesheim. In addition,
both companies combined part of their international gases
business into the Zürich company Likos AG for some years.
In the years that followed, this joint venture set up production
and sales companies in Belgium, France, the Netherlands
and South Africa. Linde AG also built up its gas activities in
Australia and Brazil in 1974 through cooperation with major
customers for gas separation plants.
Expansion in Germany
1981 1982
Egyptian President and Nobel Peace Prizewinner
Anwar al-Sadat is assassinated.
N o 2837 Process for operating
a pressure swing adsorption plant operating
cyclically (European Patent).
In Germany the Linde Technical Gases segment already owned
50 percent of Industriegas GmbH & Co. KG (IGA) in Cologne in
1972. In 1985 Linde took over the rest of the shares in the IGA
companies (Industriegas GmbH, Industriegas GmbH & Co. KG,
Azetylenfabrik Hagen GmbH and Industriegas GmbH & Co. Nord KG).
The refrigerated display case plant in Mainz-Kostheim in the 1960s.
In the early 1980s, 50 percent of the investments of the
domestic group went to the gas sector. A new gas center was
built in Herne and another one in late 1983 in Gablingen, near
Augsburg. Linde also acquired companies for the gas division
in Austria, the Netherlands, Portugal and France starting in the
mid-1980s. Linde entered the market for the first time in Great
Britain and Italy.
The crisis in the steel industry in the late 1970s and early
1980s also left its mark on sales in industrial gases. On-site
business with large clients suffered in particular, due to the
structural problems in the metals industry.
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