Air Liquid

HISTORY OF THE COMPANY

Founded in 1902, Air Liquide began as an idea to produce oxygen industrially using liquid air, and came into existence after an encounter between two men: Georges Claude, the visionary and Paul Delorme, the pragmatic creator.

The turn of the 19th century was a major turning point in the race to modernity, when nearly each day saw new technological advances.

Georges Claude’s contribution to his century entailed a project to liquefy air in order to separate its different components of oxygen, nitrogen and argon. After two years of tireless perseverance and technical setbacks, he finally succeeded on May 25, 1902 in developing a new air liquefaction process.

The launch of the company was sealed with his partnership with Paul Delorme. On November 8, 1902, a public limited company was constituted with a capital of 100,000 French francs subscribed by 24 shareholders. It was thus that Air Liquide, company for the Study and Exploitation of Georges Claude’s Processes, was born.

Its shareholders

Air Liquide’s flotation on the stock market marks the start of a strong and lasting relationship between the Group and its shareholders.

For several years, shareholders support the nascent company by contributing successive capital increases. Air Liquide continues to grow with the help of shareholding by family and professionals.

On February 20, 1913, Air Liquide is listed for the first time on the Paris stock exchange and gradually becomes a blue-chip stock on the financial market. Since its initial offering, Air Liquide has continuously generated profits. A policy of steady dividends and regular free share allocations has enabled its shareholders to secure strong returns on their initial investment.

Nearly a century later, Air Liquide remains sturdy on the CAC40 index and can boast 410,000 individual shareholders who hold 38% of its capital – a figure nearly four times greater than other CAC40 corporations.

A partner for the long term, Air...