Invitation to our General Meeting 2021

Crisis management

• Rapid adaptation to the crisis for the entire organization: implementation of strict health standards allowing business continuity, development of homeworking. Increased attention on our stakeholders: employees, customers, shareholders and suppliers.
• Exceptional Group mobilization against covid-19.
• Implementation of a temporary cost containment plan enabling immediate alignment with the activity level.

Healthcare

• Mobilization of Air Liquide Healthcare teams worldwide to deal with the increased demand for medical oxygen resulting from the pandemic. Tripling of the production of intensive care ventilators in France. Success of the consortium of industrial companies led by Air Liquide to manufacture 10,000 ventilators in record time. Tripling of the production of CryopAL’s medical oxygen tanks.
• In Home Healthcare, strengthening the home healthcare offer with support for diabetic patients in Germany and the Benelux.
• Air Liquide Foundation support for 10 scientific projects and 25 emergency social support projects as part of its covid-19 initiative.

Industry

• Finalization of the acquisition agreement with Sasol for the world’s largest oxygen production facility, in Secunda, South Africa, for approximately 440 million euros, with a CO₂ emissions reduction target of at least 30%. This operation remains subject to the usual conditions precedent, in particular the authorization of the South African Competition Authority.
• Numerous long-term contracts and investments in Large Industries, in the United States with Eastman Chemical Company and Steel Dynamics Inc, in Europe with BASF in Belgium, KGHM Polska Miedź in Poland and in the port of Moerdijk in the Netherlands, in Russia with NLMK, in China in the port area of Tianjin and in Taiwan.
• Major contracts in Electronics, particularly in China (BOE) and Taiwan.
• Continuation of the Group’s digital transformation with the worldwide roll-out of its program to digitize the liquid gas supply chain, IBO (Integrated Bulk Operations), in Industrial Merchant.

Climate and energy transition

• Carbon-free hydrogen: Start-up of the world’s largest Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolyzer in Bécancour, Quebec (Canada). In January 2021, the Company acquired a 40% stake in the French company H2V Normandy with a view to building an electrolyzer complex powered by low-carbon energy with a capacity of up to 200 MW.
• Projects supporting hydrogen mobility for trucks: announcement of the construction of the first high-pressure hydrogen refueling station in Europe, in Fos-sur-Mer in France, and launch of an initiative with the Port of Rotterdam to develop infrastructure which will allow 1,000 hydrogen-powered trucks to travel between the Netherlands, Belgium and Western Germany by 2025.
• Publication of a study on the competitiveness of hydrogen solutions by the Hydrogen Council, which now has 109 members, compared with 81 in mid-January 2020 and 13 when it was created in 2017.
• Acceleration of biomethane activities: launch in Italy with the construction of two production units and a distribution station for local transport companies, acceleration in the United Kingdom with a contract with the Asda retail group for the installation and operation of six Bio-NGV distribution stations.
• Signing of a long-term renewable electricity purchase contract, representing 15% of the current consumption of the Group’s activities in Spain.

Corporate

• Sale of Schülke to private equity firm EQT. Sale of CryoPDP to French private equity firm Hivest Capital Partners.
• Acquisition of 80% of the capital of the French company Cryoconcept, specialized in dilution refrigeration.
• Sale of Air Liquide entities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
• Successful launch of a long-term bond issue for a total of 1 billion euros.
• First General Meeting held in closed session and livestreamed, allowing shareholders to ask questions before and during the Meeting and generating 40,000 views via livestream and replay.