On January 21, A-Gas of the UK which is engaged in the worldwide refrigerants supply and lifecycle management business acquired FUSO’s fluorocarbon recovery and gas detector business by absorption-type split agreement. Taking advantage of FUSO’s existing network, the company will carry out its business activities in Japan in a full-fledged mode. 　

A-Gas is a company engaged in the refrigerant and fluorocarbon business founded in Bristol of the UK in 1993. Since it was financed by investor KKR in2017, the company has been doing the business specialized in recycling, recovery and depletion of fluorocarbon gases and halon. The latest sales marked 40 billion yen.

The method to expand the business is based on an M&A. So far it acquired BTC of the Netherlands, Diversified Pure Chem and H3R Clean Agents of America, Arthur Friedrichs Kältemittel of Germany, VEMAC Services of Singapore, Safety Hi-Tech of Italy and Salience Solutions of Australia. This acquisition is the eighth one out of those in the seven countries, and the company aims to land the Japan market taking it a clue.

On the other hand, FUSO is a time-honored physical and chemical equipment manufacturer established in 1957 headquartered in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, whose main line of business is the production and sales of fluorocarbon gas detectors and alarms, hydrogen gas leak detector, CO/inflammable gas alarm and CO2 densitometer.

In this connection, FUSO has a number of business partners of refrigerant and fluorocarbon business as well as industrial gas distributors. With regard to gas detectors, FUSO has been exporting them extensively to Asia and others. From now on A-gas is planning to develop such business globally.
A-Gas Japan of A-Gas’s Japanese corporation was established in February of last year. Katsuyuki Takise who led the establishment and took office as the first president had been in a position to manage and control the fluorocarbon and refrigerant business at Honeywell Japan until May 2019. He is well versed in the world affairs and the domestic environmental restrictions and logistics conditions of Japan. 　

The president said, “I am happy to use the complete control of refrigerant recycling managed by A-Gas and to develop FUSO’s long experiences in the Japanese market. I would like to promise to offer further better products and services to FUSO’s customers.”

For reference, FUSO received a recommendation from the Ministry of Environment (MOE ) and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) in December before last on charge of storing about 10,000 cylinders of fluorocarbons without destructive disposition and was obliged to take an appropriate measure for destructive disposition within three years. With the transfer of business at this time, FUSO’s business certification for fluorocarbons destruction and recycling business has been removed. Therefore, the liability cannot be fulfilled. However, it will be succeeded by A-Gas Japan which newly obtained the authorization as the fluorocarbon destruction disposition company with effect from January 21.