For the past 15 years, the Japanese economy has been relatively stagnant. This has rolled through to the performance of the gas companies. The structure of the Japanese industrial gases business has, however, changed significantly during this time. The number of major players has fallen from nine to four through consolidation.
The first major announcement was in 2003, when BOC’s Japanese subsidiary (OSK) and Air Liquide’s subsidiary (Teisan) merged their industrial gases business to form Japan Air Gases (JAG). This was followed in October 2004 by an even bigger merger, when Nippon Sanso Corporation (NSC) and Taiyo Toyo Sanso merged, forming an undeniable market leader in Japan – Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation.
According to president Matsueda, Nippon Sanso had realised that the company was not big enough to survive in the worldwide gases market. $quot;We were looking for a partner and chose Taiyo Toyo Sanso, who we decided would offer a positive contribution to a larger entity,$quot; he said. $quot;After the merger our market share in Japan reached 40 percent but, more importantly, the new organisation has increased both turnover and profits.$quot;
After the merger the new market leader was looking beyond the domestic market. Both of its predecessors had expanded into Asia and NSC had established an important position in the North American market. TNSC wanted to draw on these capabilities to become a market leader around the world.
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