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

68
1982
Falkland War between Argentina
and Great Britain.
N o 3024 Development
of an inert gas welding torch.
Strengthened position in Europe
At the European level in 1989, the Commission of the European
Community demanded that the gas activities of Linde and Messer
Griesheim be disentangled. In the separation, all shares in
the Dutch gas companies nv W.A. Hoek’s Maschine- en Zuurstoffabriek
and Linde Industriegassen B.V. (formerly Airgas
Nederland B.V.), which had previously been jointly held, went
to Linde. In France, Linde received the gas separation plant in
Salaise, near Lyon, and merged it with the newly founded Linde
Gaz Industriels S.A.R.L., headquartered in Lyon.
In the 1990s, Linde further expanded its gas activities in
order to finally rise to become one of the world’s leading suppliers
of industrial and medical gases by the turn of the millennium.
In 1992, Linde AG increased its participation in Hoek’s
Maschine- en Zuurstoffabriek (now Hoek Loos) first to over 60
percent in order to completely take over the Dutch market leader
in technical gases in 2000. Linde also acquired gas producers
in such countries as Portugal, England, Italy, Austria and, together
with the Swedish company AGA.
Linde Gas Center in Herne, Germany (1982).
1983
New markets for technical gases
The new disease AIDS is discovered.
N o 3157 Method and apparatus for
liquefying a low-boiling gas (helium liquefaction, etc.).
In addition, new markets and customer segments for the Technical
Gases segment began to develop in the 1980s: Gas-shielded
welding quickly became established in automobile manufacturing
by the mid-1980s, significantly increasing the demand for liquid
argon. The increasing demand in the mid-1980s for high-purity
gases in the semiconductor and fiber optic cable industry, the
most important suppliers to the soon to be booming computer
and communications technology industries, proved to be even
more economically important.
After German reunification, the new German states soon
became a focus for the technical gases segment. In 1990, the
newly founded Leuna Werke AG and Linde AG signed a longterm
cooperative agreement in the area of technical gases. On
March 1, 1991, Linde took over this division completely from
Leuna and built one of the largest gas centers in Europe, which
has served the eastern German market since 1994 and supplied
hydrogen and nitrogen to the Dow Chemical Buna rubber plant
in Schkopau and the chemical plants in Bitterfeld. Linde built
another large hydrogen plant for the nearby refinery of the
TOTAL oil group. By 1998, Linde had invested some 310 million
euro in Leuna.
Linde also became active in the Czech Republic, Hungary
and Poland after the fall of the Iron Curtain: In the Czech Republic
in early 1991, Linde took over a majority of the Technoplyn a. s.
gas company in Prague and in 1995 all shares; in Hungary,
Linde took majority control of Linde Repcegas RT in 1992, thus
securing exclusive usage rights over the largest sources of carbon
dioxide in Hungary; in Poland, Linde took over two plants
in 1993 as part of the privatization of the state-owned Polgaz,
merging it into the new Linde Gaz Polska z. o. o. In 1999, Linde
also bought the Polish gas activities of the American Airgas Inc.,
thus advancing to the position of the largest technical gases
supplier in Poland.