European competition authorities have approved the acquisition of Air Liquide Hungary by the Hungarian subsidiary of Germany’s Messer Group. With the approval, Messer Hungarogáz will take over some 50 employees as well as the fixed assets and customer relationships of the French company’s former subsidiary. The assets include an on-site air separation unit, two nitrogen generators, a filling plant for gas cylinders, plus tankers, customer tanks and steel cylinders.

“The two companies complement each other ideally in terms of their activities and their organizational, operational and production structures. We see many synergies and positive effects with respect to production, logistics, sales and customer supply,” said Stefan Messer, CEO of the family-owned Messer Group.

Taking over Air Liquide Hungary will enable Messer to enhance the reliability and flexibility of its gas supply, shorten delivery routes and increase proximity to customers and partners, thus further strengthening its position in the Hungarian the industrial gas market, Messer added.

To boost efficiency, the two companies are to be fully merged. In the interim, Air Liquide Hungary Ipari Gáztermelő will trade under the name Messer Iparigáz.

The group’s future plans for Hungary include construction of a new air separation unit in Tiszaújváros, an increase in capacity of the CO2 plant in Ölbő and installation of additional on-site nitrogen generators on customer premises as well as modernization of the tank container and gas cylinder inventory.