Airgas, a division of French industrial gases group Air Liquide, has agreed to acquire TA Corporate Holdings (Tech Air) from its management and CI Capital Partners for an undisclosed sum.

Based in Danbury, Connecticut, USA, Tech Air is a large independent distributor of industrial, medical and specialty packaged gases and welding supplies, serving more than 45,000 customers and employing around 550 people. The company, which has annual revenues of about $190 million, operates 50 locations in California, Texas, and the northeast and southeast USA.

The deal will further strengthen Airgas’s US network and enable more proximity to local customers, along with delivering “significant” synergies through leveraging Air Liquide’s integrated model. Completion, which is subject to antitrust approval, is set to take place later in 2019.

“Growth through acquisition has been a key component of Airgas’ business model and remains a core part of our long term strategy,” said Pascal Vinet, Airgas CEO and executive committee member of Air Liquide. “We look forward to welcoming the Tech Air team to Airgas and integrating their complementary capabilities and resources to enhance service for our customers.”

New York-based private equity group CI Capital Partners bought a controlling interest in Tech Air in January 2011. Under its ownership, Tech Air made 28 acquisitions, the most recent of which was last month when it announced the purchase of Tri-Star Gases, a distributor of industrial and welding supplies and gases based in El Monte, California.

Just prior to that, in December 2018, Tech Air acquired Scully Propane Service and Scully Welding Supply of Collingdale, Pennsylvania.