(Reuters) -Air Liquide has signed a binding deal to buy South Korea’s DIG Airgas from Macquarie Asia-Pacific Infrastructure Fund 2, valuing it at 2.85 billion euros ($3.30 billion), the French industrial gases group said on Friday.
The group, which supplies gases, technologies and home healthcare services, said the deal would bolster its position in South Korea, the world’s fourth largest industrial gas market and a major manufacturing hub.
“This opportunity … will contribute to the net profit growth of the Group as soon as one year after Group integration,” Air Liquide CEO François Jackow said in a statement.
The closing of the transaction is expected in the first half of 2026, pending Korean approvals.
Air Liquide, present in South Korea for more than three decades, noted DIG had expanded under Macquarie’s ownership into semiconductors and secondary batteries and was well placed to compete for “mega projects in high growth industries”.
DIG Airgas reported revenue of 510 million euros in 2024. It employs around 550 people and operates roughly 60 plants and 220 km (140 mi) of pipelines.
($1 = 0.8633 euros)
(Reporting by Olivier Cherfan in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)
