The BOC Group plc was the official name of the multinational industrial gas and
British based company more commonly known as BOC, and now a part of the
Linde Group. In September 2004, BOC had over 30,000 employees on six continents,
with sales of over £4.6 billion. BOC was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index and
the FT 30. On 5 September 2006 the BOC Group became part of the Linde Group of
Germany and is no longer traded as a separate company.
History = Early years as Brin's Oxygen Company=
Brin's Oxygen Company, Ltd. was formed in 1886, by two French brothers, Arthur
and Leon Brin. In the early years, the company manufactured oxygen using a high
temperature barium oxide process, known as the Brin process, developed from the
work of French scientist Jean Baptiste Boussingault. The main application for
gaseous oxygen at that time was in connection with generation of limelight,
used in magic lanterns and theatre lighting.
A major new market emerged around 1903, with the development of the oxyacetylene
welding process. Around the same time, new cryogenic air separation processes
had been devised independently in Britain, the United States and Germany.
The German engineer and founder of the Linde Group, Carl von Linde, won the
patent for the process. The Brin brothers negotiated an agreement to use
the Linde patents. In exchange, Carl von Linde was given a stake and a board
position in Brin's Oxygen Company, which he held until 1914. The new process
replaced the inefficient barium oxide process, paving the way for larger scale
and more efficient production. = As BOC and expansion=
In 1906, the Brin brothers renamed the company as the British Oxygen Company or
BOC. During the World War I; the business increased significantly as the
mass production of needed war machinery - ships, tanks and trucks - involved
either metal cutting or welding in the post-war period, it grew by
acquisitions; which included Sparklets Ltd, Allen-Liversidge Ltd and the
Quasi-Arc Company. During World War II, the gases for
munitions and for medical needs were provided by BOC. As in the First World
War, the business grew. After the war, BOC formed subsidiaries in over twenty
countries. In the 1950s, due to the increased demand for automobiles,
improved methods of manufacturing steel were invented which required "tonnage"
oxygen. This meant further increase in business for BOC.
BOC diversified into many industries in the 1960s and '70s. One was
refrigeration market and it set up a joint venture called BOC-Linde
Refrigeration Ltd.', with Linde AG of Germany in 1968. It also acquired Ace
Refrigeration Ltd and J. Muirhead Ltd, quick frozen food suppliers, in 1969.
With the plan of expanding into the Far East, it set up British Oxygen Ltd,
based in Tokyo. It established subsidiaries, joint ventures in Jamaica,
the Netherlands, South Africa, Sweden and Spain for a number of products;
which included transformers, magnetizing equipment, frozen foods, stable
isotopes, radioactively labeled compounds and cryogenic systems. In
1971, the company installed the largest mainframe computer in Britain, linking a
network of computers throughout the country, and sold computer time to
outside customers. As a result, BOC diversified into the computer business.
The 1973 oil crisis led to a rethinking of BOC's future strategy. It divested
non strategic assets; and concentrated on its primary business, especially the
gases and health care markets, and the expansion of these businesses to Europe,
the Americas and the Far East. In 1975, the company officially became 'BOC
International Ltd', reflecting its success in developing business outside
of Britain, and in products beyond oxygen.
= BOC Group= An important part of BOC's history was
the acquisition of Airco, an American competitor. After 11 years of
litigation, in 1978 Airco became a wholly owned subsidiary of BOC. The
enlarged company changed its name to the BOC Group.
In 1999, reports emerged that the US Industrial gases company Praxair - a
1992 spun off from Linde AG's US division, 'Union Carbide Industrial
Gases' - were in possible merger discussions with BOC Group. Following
the breakup of the talks, France's L'Air Liquide S.A. and Air Products &
Chemicals Inc. made a series of cash offers to acquire the group. On 13 July
1999, the BOC board approved a pre-conditional cash offer of £14.60 per
share. The BOC Group's assets were to be divided between Air Liquide and Air
Products in the US$11 billion deal. On 12 May 2000, the bid lapsed, following
failure to reach a satisfactory agreement with the United States Federal
Trade Commission. Following the collapse of the bid, BOC
Group developed a new strategy to stimulate business growth in new
products and markets, and to reshape its existing portfolio of businesses to
improve Group performance. In 2001, BOC Group announced it was cutting 1,500
jobs. In late 2002, the company merged its Japanese industrial and medical gas
businesses with those of Air Liquide to form Japan Air Gases. BOC also acquired
Praxair's operations in Poland. In November 2003, BOC Group announced
that it would complete the sale of Afrox Healthcare - a hospital and managed
health care group operating in South Africa - to a consortium led by Black
Economic Empowerment investors. = Part of the Linde Group=
The BOC Group's total revenues in 2005, including its share of joint ventures
and associate companies, were £4.6 billion and was then the second largest
industrial gas supplier in the world. Industrial gases business made up for
more than 80% of sales. The group was getting nearly one-third of its revenues
from Asia Pacific; Europe accounted for 28% and the Americas 27%.
In January 2006, the Linde Group made a preliminary proposal to acquire BOC
Group based in a £15 per share all-cash offer, which was rejected by the BOC
board of directors. In March 2006, the second proposal based on a £16 per share
all-cash offer, valuing the company at £8.2bn, was accepted and takeover was
completed on 5 September 2006. After nearly a century of intermittent
courtship, BOC became a part of Linde Group and the synergy overtook Air
Liquide as the global market leader. On 6 September, BOC Group employees
received a welcome pack including a letter from Linde CEO Professor Dr.
Wolfgang Reitzle, a small badge representing the new logo of 'The Linde
Group' and a Swatch watch. Many of these watches quickly appeared on eBay. On 12
March 2007, the Linde Group divested the vacuum business known as BOC Edwards to
the private investment group 'CCMP Capital'.
Operations The BOC Group business activities
included: The Process Gas Solutions line of
business, supplying large product volumes by pipeline, on-site generation
or cryogenic tanker. The Industrial and Special Products line
of business providing packaged gas, chemicals and related products and
services. The gases involved are typically delivered in high pressure
cylinders and range from technical grades to high purity specialty gases.
BOC Edwards supplying the semiconductor industry with vacuum, chemical delivery
and abatement systems and related services. It also supplies vacuum
equipment to many industrial and scientific sectors.
Gist providing logistics design, management and operation in a number of
sectors including food, beverage and fashion retail for large corporations
including CocaCola. Headquarters
When BOC was a global company, the head office of BOC was in Windlesham, a small
village approximately 25 miles south west of London. The office, built in the
1980s is a fine example of modern architecture and when seen from the air
resembles the shape of an oxygen molecule. Today, this office stands
empty and has now been sold. Many of the staff that were based in the Windlesham
office have since moved to the BOC office in Guildford and the Linde
Group's new head office in Munich, Germany.
References External links
BOC Official site BOC Online Shop
Linde Official site