TNSC Completed Acquisition of a HyCO Business and Related Assets in the United States
Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation (TNSC) announces that it has concluded the acquisition of a portion of the HyCO business(*1) and related assets operated in the United States by Linde Gas North America LLC (hereafter “Linde America”), a subsidiary of German Company Linde Aktiengesellschaft (hereafter “Linde AG”), through its wholly owned subsidiary, Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc. (hereafter “Matheson”, headquartered in Irving, Texas, United States), as described in its press release dated December 13, 2018 entitled “Notice Regarding Acquisition of a HyCO Business and Related Assets in the United States.”
(*1) “HyCO” stands for hydrogen (H2) and carbon monoxide (CO), which are separated from natural gas and other gases through a technology called Steam Methane Reforming (hereafter “SMR”) and other equipment. The HyCO business provides large-scale supply of H2 and CO to customers in oil refining and petrochemical industries by way of a pipeline.
1. Completion of Acquisition
Linde AG agreed to a business combination with Praxair, Inc. (hereafter “Praxair”) on June 1, 2017 which was completed on October 31, 2018 resulting in Linde AG and Praxair becoming subsidiaries of the newly founded Linde plc. The United States Federal Trade Commission approved the business combination between Linde AG and Praxair on October 22, 2018 with the condition that some of Linde AG’s businesses including a portion of its HyCO businesses in the United States be transferred to a third party. With the approval of the Federal Trade Commission of the United States, Matheson completed the acquisition of such HyCO business and related assets at five locations in the United States on February 27, 2019 (US time).
2. Summary of Acquisition
- Assets to be acquired: HyCO SMR plants (5 locations, 8 plants), pipelines, remote supervision systems
- Acquisition value: USD 413,070,000 [equivalent of approximately JPY 45.6B(*2)] (*2) Assuming an exchange rate of 1 USD = ¥110.59 (as of February 27)
- Revenue of acquired business: USD 91 million (FYE2017)
- Acquisition effect: Matheson has made full-scale entry into the HyCO business, and the following effects can be expected for TNSC Group.
- Steady generation of earnings from on-site supply of H2 and CO
- Acquisition of resources (people / technology) further facilitating operation of HyCO business
- Strengthening of the ability to offer proposals that will capture demand for new on-site projects in the United States (petroleum refining and petrochemicals, etc.)
3. Future Prospects
There are no revisions to the consolidated earnings forecast the Company for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2019 associated with this acquisition.
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