09 Jan Takenaka Partners Advises Air Water America, Inc. on its Acquisition of Noble Gas Solutions, Inc.
Air Water America, Inc. (“Air Water”), has acquired Noble Gas Solutions, Inc. (“Noble Gas”), a leading independent gas and welding products distributor in New York. Takenaka Partners served as the financial advisor to Air Water.
Air Water is a subsidiary of Air Water Inc. (“Air Water Japan”). Air Water Japan was established in 1929 and, for over 90 years, has continued to grow in the manufacturing and supply of industrial gases and related services. Air Water Japan has developed its own engineering capability to design, manufacture and operate air separation units and non-cryogenic air separation plants. In the past few years, Air Water Japan has invested outside of Japan, in the U.S., India, and Asian markets.
Formed in 1940, Noble Gas Solutions began serving the industrial and manufacturing industries; the company’s headquarters and primary cylinder filling plant are located in Albany, New York, with additional retail stores located in South Glens Falls, NY, and Kingston, NY.
According to Ishmael Chalabi, the President and CEO of Air Water Gases Solutions (i.e., the industrial gases arm of Air Water), “North America is one of the key growth areas for Air Water globally. In the past 5 years, Air Water has made significant investments in the industrial gases and equipment area, acquiring Taylor-Wharton, TOMCO2 Systems, Cryogenic Vessels Alternative (CVA), Cryofin, the dry ice manufacturing assets of CO2 Air, a 49% stake of Dohmeyer Cryogenics, and a $50 million equity investment in First Element Fuels. We’re excited to welcome the Noble Gas team to the Air Water Group and look forward to working together to serve the area’s customers.”
Per Colleen Kohler, current CEO of Noble Gas, “the acquisition will provide Noble gas with additional resources to allow us to better serve our customers. The entire Noble Gas Solutions team is excited to expand our product offerings to our customers with Air Water’s advanced gases and solutions technology.”