68 1982 Falkland War between Argentina and Great Britain. N o 3024 Development <strong>of</strong> an inert gas welding torch. Streng<strong>the</strong>ned position in Europe At <strong>the</strong> European level in 1989, <strong>the</strong> Commission <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> European Community demanded that <strong>the</strong> gas activities <strong>of</strong> <strong>Linde</strong> and Messer Griesheim be disentangled. In <strong>the</strong> separation, all shares in <strong>the</strong> Dutch gas companies nv W.A. Hoek’s Maschine- en Zuurst<strong>of</strong>fabriek and <strong>Linde</strong> Industriegassen B.V. (formerly Airgas Nederland B.V.), which had previously been jointly held, went to <strong>Linde</strong>. In France, <strong>Linde</strong> received <strong>the</strong> gas separation plant in Salaise, near Lyon, and merged it with <strong>the</strong> newly founded <strong>Linde</strong> Gaz Industriels S.A.R.L., headquartered in Lyon. In <strong>the</strong> 1990s, <strong>Linde</strong> fur<strong>the</strong>r expanded its gas activities in order to finally rise to become one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> world’s leading suppliers <strong>of</strong> industrial and medical gases by <strong>the</strong> turn <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> millennium. In 1992, <strong>Linde</strong> AG increased its participation in Hoek’s Maschine- en Zuurst<strong>of</strong>fabriek (now Hoek Loos) first to over 60 percent in order to <strong>complete</strong>ly take over <strong>the</strong> Dutch market leader in technical gases in 2000. <strong>Linde</strong> also acquired gas producers in such countries as Portugal, England, Italy, Austria and, toge<strong>the</strong>r with <strong>the</strong> Swedish company AGA. <strong>Linde</strong> Gas Center in Herne, Germany (1982). 1983 New markets for technical gases <strong>The</strong> 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 <strong>the</strong> Technical Gases segment began to develop in <strong>the</strong> 1980s: Gas-shielded welding quickly became established in automobile manufacturing by <strong>the</strong> mid-1980s, significantly increasing <strong>the</strong> demand for liquid argon. <strong>The</strong> increasing demand in <strong>the</strong> mid-1980s for high-purity gases in <strong>the</strong> semiconductor and fiber optic cable industry, <strong>the</strong> most important suppliers to <strong>the</strong> soon to be booming computer and communications technology industries, proved to be even more economically important. After German reunification, <strong>the</strong> new German states soon became a focus for <strong>the</strong> technical gases segment. In 1990, <strong>the</strong> newly founded Leuna Werke AG and <strong>Linde</strong> AG signed a longterm cooperative agreement in <strong>the</strong> area <strong>of</strong> technical gases. On March 1, 1991, <strong>Linde</strong> took over this division <strong>complete</strong>ly from Leuna and built one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> largest gas centers in Europe, which has served <strong>the</strong> eastern German market since 1994 and supplied hydrogen and nitrogen to <strong>the</strong> Dow Chemical Buna rubber plant in Schkopau and <strong>the</strong> chemical plants in Bitterfeld. <strong>Linde</strong> built ano<strong>the</strong>r large hydrogen plant for <strong>the</strong> nearby refinery <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> TOTAL oil group. By 1998, <strong>Linde</strong> had invested some 310 million euro in Leuna. <strong>Linde</strong> also became active in <strong>the</strong> Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland after <strong>the</strong> fall <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Iron Curtain: In <strong>the</strong> Czech Republic in early 1991, <strong>Linde</strong> took over a majority <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Technoplyn a. s. gas company in Prague and in 1995 all shares; in Hungary, <strong>Linde</strong> took majority control <strong>of</strong> <strong>Linde</strong> Repcegas RT in 1992, thus securing exclusive usage rights over <strong>the</strong> largest sources <strong>of</strong> carbon dioxide in Hungary; in Poland, <strong>Linde</strong> took over two plants in 1993 as part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> privatization <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> state-owned Polgaz, merging it into <strong>the</strong> new <strong>Linde</strong> Gaz Polska z. o. o. In 1999, <strong>Linde</strong> also bought <strong>the</strong> Polish gas activities <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> American Airgas Inc., thus advancing to <strong>the</strong> position <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> largest technical gases supplier in Poland.
Welding with <strong>the</strong> protective gas “Corgon” from <strong>Linde</strong>. 1984 69
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