About Linde

Linde plc (Linde) operates as an industrial gas company worldwide. The company is a major technological innovator in the industrial gases industry. Its primary products in its industrial gases business are atmospheric gases (oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and rare gases) and process gases (carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen, electronic gases, specialty gases, acetylene, etc.). The company also designs and builds equipment that produces industrial gases and offers customers a wide range of gas production and processing services, such as olefin plants, natural gas plants, air separation plants, hydrogen and synthesis gas plants and other types of plants. Linde serves a diverse group of industries, including healthcare, chemicals and energy, manufacturing, metals and mining, food and beverage, and electronics. Industrial Gases Products and Manufacturing Processes Atmospheric gases are the highest volume products produced by Linde. Using air as its raw material, Linde produces oxygen, nitrogen and argon through several air separation processes of which cryogenic air separation is the most prevalent. Rare gases, such as krypton, neon and xenon, are also produced through cryogenic air separation. As a pioneer in the industrial gases industry, Linde is a leader in developing a wide range of proprietary and patented applications and supply systems technology. Linde also engages the development and commercialization of non-cryogenic air separation technologies for the production of industrial gases. These technologies open important new markets and optimize production capacity for the company by lowering the cost of supplying industrial gases. These technologies include proprietary vacuum pressure swing adsorption (‘VPSA’) and membrane separation to produce gaseous oxygen and nitrogen, respectively. Process gases, including carbon dioxide, hydrogen, helium, specialty gases and acetylene, are produced by methods other than air separation. Hydrogen is produced from a range of feedstocks using an array of different technologies. Despite hydrogen being an invisible molecule, colors are often used to designate and differentiate between the production processes used to produce the molecule. The majority of hydrogen produced by Linde is what is termed gray hydrogen and is derived from natural gas or methane, using steam methane reformation technology. Linde has multiple technologies to produce blue and green hydrogen, which are both considered types of clean energy. Blue hydrogen is produced by capturing the carbon emissions from the hydrogen plant and either utilizing them in a way that stops them from being emitted or sequestering them in the subsurface for the long term. Green hydrogen is produced by electrolysis using renewable energy or from the steam methane reforming of biomethane. Low carbon intensity, high-purity hydrogen is also produced by purifying and recovering by-product hydrogen sources from the chemical and petrochemical industries. Helium is sourced from certain helium-rich natural gas streams in the United States, with additional supplies being acquired from outside the United States. Carbon monoxide can be produced by either steam methane reforming or auto-thermal reforming of natural gas or other feed streams, such as naphtha. Acetylene is primarily sourced as a chemical by-product, but may also be produced from calcium carbide and water. Most carbon dioxide is purchased from by-product sources, including chemical plants, refineries and industrial processes or is recovered from carbon dioxide wells. Carbon dioxide is processed in Linde’s plants to produce commercial and food-grade carbon dioxide. Industrial Gases Distribution There are three basic distribution methods for industrial gases: on-site or tonnage; merchant or bulk liquid; and packaged or cylinder gases. On-site: Linde constructs plants on or adjacent to these customers’ sites and supplies the product directly to customers by pipeline. On-site product supply contracts generally are total requirement contracts with terms typically ranging from 10-20 years and containing minimum purchase requirements and price escalation provisions. Many of the cryogenic on-site plants also produce liquid products for the merchant market. Merchant: The merchant business is generally associated with distributable liquid oxygen, nitrogen, argon, carbon dioxide, hydrogen and helium. The deliveries generally are made from Linde’s plants by tanker trucks to storage containers at the customer's site, which are usually owned and maintained by Linde and leased to the customer. The customer agreements used in the merchant business are usually three to seven-year requirement contracts. Packaged Gases: Packaged gases include atmospheric gases, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, helium, acetylene and related products. Linde also produces and distributes in cylinders a wide range of specialty gases and mixtures. Cylinders may be delivered to the customer’s site or picked up by the customer at a packaging facility or retail store. Packaged gases are generally sold under one to three-year supply contracts and through purchase orders. Engineering Linde’s Engineering business has a global presence, with its focus on market segments, such as air separation, hydrogen, synthesis, olefin and natural gas plants. The company utilizes its extensive process engineering know-how in the planning, design and construction of highly efficient turnkey plants for the production and processing of gases. With its sustainable technologies, Engineering also helps customers avoid, capture and utilize CO2 emissions. Its technology portfolio covers the entire value chain for production, liquefaction, storage, distribution and application of hydrogen, which supports the transition to clean energy. Its digital services and solutions increase plant efficiency and performance. Linde's plants are used in a wide variety of fields: in the petrochemical and chemical industries, in refineries and fertilizer plants, to recover air gases, to produce synthesis gases, to treat natural gas and to produce noble gases. The Engineering business either supplies plant components directly to the customer or to the industrial gas business of Linde, which operates the plants under a long-term gases supply contract. International Linde is a global enterprise with approximately 68% of its 2022 sales outside of the United States. The company also has majority or wholly owned subsidiaries that operate in approximately 45 European, the Middle Eastern and African countries (including Germany, the United Kingdom (U.K.), France, Sweden, and the Republic of South Africa); approximately 20 Asian and South Pacific countries (including China, Australia, India, South Korea, and Thailand); and approximately 20 countries in North and South America (including Canada, Mexico, and Brazil). The company also has equity method investments operating in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and North America. Patents and Trademarks Linde owns a large number of trademarks, of which the ‘Linde’ trademark is the most significant. History The company was founded in 1879. It was incorporated in 2017. It was formerly known as Praxair, Inc. and changed its name to Linde plc in 2018.

Country
Industry:
Industrial inorganic chemicals
Founded:
1879
IPO Date:
06/17/1992
ISIN Number:
I_IE000S9YS762
Address:
Forge, 43 Church Street West, Woking, Surrey, GU21 6HT, United Kingdom
Phone Number
44 14 8324 2200

Key Executives

CEO:
Lamba, Sanjiv
CFO
White, Matthew
COO:
Oliveira, Luiz