Air Products and Chemicals Inc. APDhas successfully acquired the Coal Gasification Technology licensing business from Shell Global Solutions International B.V., a unit of Royal Dutch Shell plc. Financial terms of the deal, which was initially announced in January, remains undisclosed. Both the companies have also formed a strategic alliance to offer liquids gasification to refineries.
Gasification technologies offer a lower-emission way to turn coal into syngas which in turn is provided to customers to make higher-value products. Through this deal, Air Products will be able to expand its offering of synthesis gas, or syngas, for existing and future projects.
Shell’s gasification technology is already operating at nearly 200 gasification systems. With this acquisition, Air Products has gained access to Shell's associated patent portfolios for solids (coal and biomass) gasification as well as sharing of patent rights for residue and biomass gasification. The buyout also provides the company an opportunity to fully explore outsourcing options to produce and supply syngas for customers planning to use gasification.
This deal will further support previously announced projects by Air Products such as Lu'An in Changzhi, Shanxi Province, China, which the company has successfully closed as well as for future projects.
Air Products’ shares have moved up 12.6% over a year, outperforming the industry’s 9.6% gain.