Airgas acquires Union Industrial Gas Group

Airgas Inc. announced it has acquired most of the assets and operations of Dallas-based Union Industrial Gas Group (UIG), including 14 branches in Louisiana, New Mexico and Texas. The operations that were acquired effective November 1 had annual sales of $38 million.

Airgas is integrating most of the operations into two of its regional companies. Airgas Southwest has assumed operations of four locations near Houston, San Antonio, and El Paso, Texas, doing business as Gulf Oxygen, Union Industrial Gas, and Valley Gas; as well as five locations in Albuquerque, Farmington, Las Cruces, Alamogordo, and Santa Fe, N.M., doing business as Valley Gas. Airgas Gulf States has assumed operation of four locations in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Houma, La., doing business as Doussan.

Airgas also is integrating the high-purity hydrocarbon gas business of Pearland, Texas-based BTU Gases LLC into its national Airgas Specialty Gas operations. The balance of BTU Gases’ business, which wholesales propylene nationwide, will remain with UIG.

As part of the acquisition, Airgas has offered employment to more than 100 employees of UIG affected by the acquisition.