Linde Bangladesh transfers welding business to ESAB
The multinational industrial and medical gas producer operated the welding business under a subsidiary, Linde Industries Pvt Limited
Linde Bangladesh transferred its major revenue-generating segment, the welding electrodes business, to the ESAB Group on Tuesday, but the transfer value was not disclosed.
The multinational industrial and medical gas producer operated the welding business under a subsidiary, Linde Industries Pvt Limited.
Linde Bangladesh owned 13.82 crore shares of the subsidiary, while its company secretary Abu Mohammad Nisar held one share.
According to its disclosure, the firm transferred its holdings to ESAB Middle East FZE, and Abu Nisar transferred his share to Exelvia International Holdings. Consequently, Linde Industries is no longer a subsidiary of Linde Bangladesh.
According to the ESAB website, it is a world leader in welding and cutting equipment and consumables, with business operations in 140 countries and 26 manufacturing hubs across the globe.
Earlier, in October last year, Linde Bangladesh secured a High Court order to demerge its hard goods business to a wholly owned subsidiary, Linde Industries. The demerger is part of Linde's strategy to create more focus on its gas business, according to a company official.
Linde Bangladesh was incorporated in 1973 and listed on the DSE in 1976. It started its welding electrode business in 1979 and set up the first electrode plant in 1995 at Rupganj. Since then, it has regularly invested in this factory and set up three more lines to boost electrode production.
According to its annual report for 2022, Linde Bangladesh earned Tk259.76 crore from electrodes, which accounted for over 53% of its total revenue of Tk487 crore in 2022. However, its electrode sales have declined continuously since 2019 due to the volatile business situation.