It has been a year since Airgas, a venerable US industrial gas producer and distributor, officially became an Air Liquide subsidiary with the finalizing of a $13.4bn acquisition deal by the French-based company.
The merger created what Paris-based Air Liquide said would be a $22bn company with more than 68,000 global employees, and 3 million customers and patients.
It has indeed been a year of change for Airgas, a company that has grown from its humble beginnings as a small distributor called Connecticut Oxygen (CONNOX) in 1982 to more than 950 branches and 17,000 employees.