Air Products and Chemicals Inc., an American international corporation that principally sells gasses and chemicals for industrial use, is selling its liquefied natural gas (LNG) process technology and equipment business for $1.81 billion in an all-cash transaction to advanced-technology giant Honeywell International Inc.
Headquartered in Allentown, Pa., Air Products’ LNG Business has roughly 475 employees and a 390,000-square-feet manufacturing facility in Port Manatee, Fla., where all sizes of coil-wound heat exchangers (CWHEs) are made.
“The LNG business is a great business and at its strongest point in its decades-long history thanks to the outstanding work of our people,” said Air Products’ Chairman, President, and CEO Seifi Ghasemiand. “They will be in good hands to advance as part of Honeywell’s related portfolio of technologies.”
Ghasemiand said that the decision to divest the company’s LNG heat exchanger technology and equipment business reflects Air Products’ continued focus on its two-pillar strategy: to grow its core industrial gas business and related technology and equipment, and to be a first-mover delivering clean hydrogen at scale to decarbonize industrial and heavy-duty transportation sectors.
Air Products, a publicly traded Company, has been in operation for more than 80 years and is focused on serving energy, environmental, and emerging markets.
The company’s LNG process technology and equipment business includes in-house design and manufacturing of CWHEs, which provide the highest throughput of natural gas in a single exchanger with a small footprint, as well as robust, reliable, and safe operations both onshore and offshore.
Honeywell, also publicly owned, said that the acquisition will allow it to offer customers a top-tier solution for managing their energy transformation.
“This highly complementary acquisition will further strengthen our energy transition portfolio, and Air Products’ CWHE technology will immediately expand our installed base,” said Vimal Kapur, Honeywell’s chairman and CEO, adding that it will create “new opportunities to compound growth in aftermarket services and digitalization through our Honeywell Forge platform.
“While the world continues to build the renewables-based energy infrastructure of the future, natural gas is a critical lower-emission and affordable transition fuel that will help meet ever-increasing and dynamic global energy demands,” he added.
The transaction, which is expected to be adjusted earnings per share accretive in the first full year of ownership, is not subject to any financing conditions and, pending requisite regulatory approvals, is expected to close before the end of the calendar year.