industrial gas company . for the electronic band see air liquide band . air liquide s.a. type soci t anonyme traded as euronext ai industry chemicals health care engineering founded 1902 ; 114 years ago 1902 headquarters quai d orsay 7th arrondissement paris france key people beno t potier chairman and ceo products industrial gases fine chemicals revenue 16.380 billion 2015 1 operating income 2.758 billion 2015 1 profit 1.756 billion 2015 1 total assets 28.941 billion end 2015 1 total equity 12.771 billion end 2015 1 number of employees 68 000 average 2015 1 website www.airliquide.com air liquide s.a. or air liquide french pronunciation likid ; r l ki d ; literally liquid air is a french multinational company which supplies industrial gases and services to various industries including medical chemical and electronic manufacturers . founded in 1902 it is the world s first largest supplier of industrial gases by revenues and has operations in over 80 countries . 2 it is headquartered in the 7th arrondissement of paris france . 3 air liquide owned the patent for aqua lung until it time expired . although air liquide s headquarters are located in paris france it also has a major site in japan all as well as in houston tx and newark de usa . there is an emphasis on research and development r & d throughout the air liquide company . r & d targets the creation of not only industrial gases but also gases that are used in products such as healthcare items electronic chips foods and chemicals . the major r & d groups within air liquide focus on analysis bioresources foods and chemicals combustion membranes modeling and the production of hydrogen h2 gas . the company is a component of the euro stoxx 50 stock market index . 4 as of 2009 the company is ranked 484 in the fortune global 500 . 5 contents 1 history 2 subsidiaries 2.1 aqua lung la spirotechnique 2.2 air liquide global e & c solutions germany gmbh formerly lurgi gmbh 3 financial data 4 references 5 external links history edit 1902 georges claude and paul delorme develop a process for liquefying air to separate the components . first drops of liquid air and creation of the company of the same name . paul delorme is the first president . 1906 launch of international expansion first in belgium and italy then also in canada japan and hong kong . 1913 air liquide joins the paris bourse . 1938 acquisition of la ox gena s.a. in argentina 1943 engineer mile gagnan employee at air liquide and lieutenant de vaisseau ship of the line lieutenant jacques yves cousteau order to air liquide the construction at its factory in boulogne billancourt of two scuba sets prototypes that cousteau and fr d ric dumas used to shoot the underwater film paves shipwrecks directed by cousteau the same year . 6 they were the first modern diving regulators . 1945 after the war jean delorme second president of the group seeks to restore roads renovate develop the tool industry . 1946 air liquide founds la spirotechnique its own division destined to conceive and commercialize regulators and other diving equipment . the same year la spirotechnique launches the cg45 the first modern regulator to be commercialized . the year 1946 represents thus the beginning of the popularisation of scuba diving . 1957 launch of great activity and industry networking pipes irrigating several major industrial areas in the world . 1962 launch of space adventure 1986 deployment in the united states with the acquisition of big three clarification needed and implementation clarification needed in many countries particularly in europe and asia . acquisition of seppic the french specialty chemicals company as part of its healthcare world business line . 1995 creation of air liquide health structure teams a gas supply medical equipment and services fully dedicated to the medical sector first at the hospital then to patients homes . 1996 acquisition of schuelke and mayr in germany . 2001 acquisition of messer griesheim in south africa trinidad and tobago canada egypt argentina and brazil . 2003 creation of a joint venture with the boc group in japan japan air gases strengthening the group s presence in the far east market . 2004 acquisition of messer griesheim in germany uk and the usa . 2007 acquisition of linde gas uk . 2007 acquisition of the german engineering company lurgi which doubles the capacity of the engineering group . 2007 acquisition of scott specialty gases llc . in the usa uk and netherlands . 2008 the investment company eurazeo which owns 5.6 % since 2006 group announces to divest its stake . from 2005 to 2008 air liquide increased its hydrogen production by more than 50 percent . clarification needed 7 in early 2008 air liquide entered a long term clarification needed contract with neste oil s renewable diesel plant to supply hydrogen . clarification needed air liquide is building a unit on jurong island to provide the means for the deal . they plan to turn the unit into an integrated hydrogen pipeline network that will provide services to regional companies . in november 2015 air liquide announced it would acquire american firm airgas for a total of 13.4 billion including debt . 8 the airgas shareholders have approved air liquide s acquisition on february 23 2016 . 9 on may 23 2016 air liquide announced the completion of the acquisition of airgas . 10 subsidiaries edit aqua lung la spirotechnique edit see aqua lung la spirotechnique . a well known french firm which makes scuba gear scuba sets and other breathing apparati . it started making the so called aqua lung regulators like the cg45 1945 and the mistral 1955 among others . air liquide global e & c solutions germany gmbh formerly lurgi gmbh edit a german engineering construction and chemical process licensing company . the head office is located in frankfurt am main . air liquide global e & c solutions gmbh formerly lurgi gmbh has been part of air liquide s. a. since 2007 . lurgi was the cable address of metallurgische gesellschaft founded on 5 february 1897 . its origin dates back to the technical branch of metallgesellschaft which had been established by wilhelm merton in 1881 . by the end of world war i the company had gained a foothold in the steam and absorption business and gathered expertise in the upgrading of solid fuels and the processing of the resulting gaseous and liquid products . as a consequence of this diversification the company divided into process specific subsidiaries which from 1919 traded under the name of lurgi . in 1923 they jointly moved into offices at gervinusstrasse frankfurt am main . in order to meet the requirements of the international markets lurgi constituted itself as a german stock corporation in 1990 . its operating limited liability companies chemistry metallurgy and industry construction ; energy and environmental techniques ; gas and mineral oil techniques each had their own engineering and commercial staff . in 1991 lurgi pooled its polymer activities by taking over zimmer ag from the british davy mckee ag as the fourth operating company . in 2001 lurgi sold their metallurgical division lurgi metallurgie to outokumpu . after acquisition into the air liquide company the zimmer technology portfolio was sold in end of 2014 to technip . 11 air liquide global e & c solutions germany today focuses on three primary technology portfolios alternative technology based upon turning natural gas coal biomass to synthetic fuels through gasification fischer tropsch and proprietary methanol to synthetic fuels refinery technology consisting of conventional refinery technologies . renewable technologies including biodiesel as well as bioethanol processes . financial data edit financial data in millions of euro year 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2015 sales 8 328 7 900 8 399 9 400 10 435 10 949 16 330 ebitda 1 833 1 960 1 975 2 084 2 415 2 567 4 262 net results 460 703 725 778 933 1 002 1 756 net debt 2 584 2 022 1 730 3 790 3 740 3 447 7 239 research 146 150 146 150 162 173 282 employees 30 800 30 800 31 900 35 900 35 900 36 900 50 000 source opesc by the 29 february 2016 the company had a share value of 33 434 million euros distributed in 344 222 603 shares . references edit a b c d e f annual report 2015 . air liquide . retrieved 19 april 2015 . 1 . air liquide . retrieved on 31 january 2011 . legal notice . air liquide . retrieved on 7 july 2010 . frankfurt stock exchange air liquide in fortune global 500 2009 july 20 2009 . accessed august 18 2010 . those two scuba sets made by air liquide are mentioned in the opening credits of the film as scaphandre autonome air liquide syst me cousteau air liquide s scuba set cousteau system . air liquide signs letter of intent with conocophillips to construct new hydrogen unit in the san francisco bay area euronext.com . january 30 2006 . accessed may 16 2008 . france s air liquide to buy u.s. peer airgas in 13.4 billion deal . reuters . 17 november 2015 . airgas shareholders approve air liquide s acquisition of airgas pdf . airgas . 23 february 2016 . air liquide completes airgas acquisition . gasworld . 23 may 2016 . technip buys air liquide s zimmer polymer technology business oilonline.com . december 15 2014 . accessed april 20 2016 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to air liquide . paris portal companies portal official website v t e euro stoxx 50 companies of the euro area last update october 2015 air liquide airbus group allianz anheuser busch inbev asml holding assicurazioni generali axa banco bilbao vizcaya argentaria banco santander basf bayer bmw bnp paribas carrefour saint gobain daimler ag deutsche bank deutsche post deutsche telekom enel engie sa eni e.on essilor international fresenius se groupe danone iberdrola inditex ing group nv intesa sanpaolo l or al lvmh mo t hennessy louis vuitton m nchener r ckversicherungs gesellschaft nokia orange s.a. philips electronics safran sanofi sap se schneider electric siemens soci t g n rale sa telefonica total s.a. unibail rodamco unicredit unilever vinci sa vivendi volkswagen group v t e cac 40 companies of france last update 6 january 2016 accor air liquide airbus group alstom arcelormittal axa bnp paribas bouygues capgemini carrefour cr dit agricole danone edf essilor engie kering l or al lafargeholcim legrand lvmh michelin nokia orange pernod ricard peugeot publicis renault safran saint gobain sanofi schneider electric soci t g n rale solvay technip total unibail rodamco valeo veolia environnement vinci vivendi retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title air liquide & oldid 743349945 categories industrial gaseschemical companies of francemanufacturing companies based in pariscompanies established in 19021902 establishments in francecac 40companies in the euro stoxx 50hidden categories wikipedia articles needing clarification from june 2012wikipedia articles needing clarification from april 2012commons category with local link same as on wikidataofficial 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