LNG

Chart Industries Inc., the liquefied natural gas equipment-maker and industrial gas technology company, has sold a low-pressure compression and vacuum technologies company for $300 million in cash to the US group Ingersoll Rand.

Chart said the transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, was expected to be completed in the third quarter.

As part of the transaction, Ingersoll Rand will assume ownership of the Roots manufacturing facility in Connersville, Indiana, which is dedicated to Roots products and will retain the 300 employees at Roots.

“We are excited to have executed a definitive agreement in the second quarter 2023 to sell Roots, which is another key step in accelerating our deleveraging plan while simultaneously allowing us to focus on our core strategic solution offering and integration efforts,” stated Jill Evanko, Chart’s Chief Executive and President.

“We also are thrilled that the business will be owned by Ingersoll Rand, a proven strategic partner and a company that will care for the Roots’ team members,” added Evanko.

Vicente Reynal, Chairman and Chief Executive of Ingersoll Rand, said he was pleased with the acquisition.

Benefits

“We have long admired Roots and are thrilled to add this iconic brand to our portfolio. This complementary acquisition expands our low-pressure compression and vacuum product offerings and is a great example of our partnership with Chart, where the acquisition was a win-win for both companies,” added Reynal.

Chart is also reiterating its full year 2023 anticipated outlook for revenue, adjusted gross earnings, adjusted earnings per share, free cash flow and operational cash flow available for debt paydown.

The company reported in May that first-quarter results were helped by LNG orders and additions from Chart’s acquisition of UK group Howden.

Chart’s first-quarter included strong starts for Chart and Howden with orders amounting to $747.7m, contributing to a record $3.9 billion backlog.

Additionally, Chart booked a “Big LNG” order from leading global liquefaction plant builder Bechtel for air-cooled heat exchangers, brazed aluminum heat exchangers and ethylene storage tanks for Sempra Infrastructure’s Port Arthur LNG project.

The company also listed an order for $115M for the IPSMR® liquefaction systems from the Chinese shipyard Wison Heavy Industry Co. for small-scale LNG projects all driven by Chart’s IPSMR® technology, including one for Italian oil and gas major and LNG project developer ENI.

A separate order was also made for brazed aluminum heat exchangers for a floating LNG application for $19.5M.

Chart said quarterly small-scale and floating LNG orders totalled $139M, which was a 263 percent increase for these types of orders when compared to the first quarter of 2022. 

Chart Industries Inc., the LNG equipment-maker and industrial gas technology company, has received a first-quarter 2023 boost as orders increased following its $4.4 billion acquisition of UK engineering firm Howden with both new branches of the company contributing and synergies already emerging.

Chart Industries, the US LNG equipment-maker and industrial gases and clean energy company, reported soaring sales and earnings as well as record orders and a vibrant LNG market as it prepared to close the $4.4 billion take-over of UK engineering company Howden.

Chart Industries, the US LNG equipment-maker and industrial gases technology company, said it was given full notice to proceed on its processing and equipment activities for Cheniere Energy’s Corpus Christi Stage Three LNG expansion project.

The Corpus Christi expansion will consist of up to seven mid-scale Trains, each with an expected liquefaction capacity of about 1.49 MTPA with a total production capacity of more than 10 MTPA.

The existing Corpus Christy facility has nameplate capacity of 13.5 MTPA from three Trains.

In conjunction with the FNTP, Chart said it had booked an order valued at over $260 million, which is in addition to the approximately $50M already in backlog as of the end of March for this project.

The orders were received from Bechtel Inc, the lead engineer in the expansion of Cheniere’s Texas plant.

Chart said it would begin recognizing revenue on the Corpus Christi project in 2022 with a multi-year staggered delivery schedule for its equipment, including its IPMSR® processing technology.

Orders build

Chart's recent equipment orders from Gulf Coast LNG export projects have also included provisions for Venture Global’s Plaquemines Phase 1 project for 10 MTPA of LNG at a Louisiana site on the Mississippi River south of New Orleans.

Additionally Chart said the Driftwood project in Louisiana being developed by Houston-based Tellurian Inc. is anticipated to include over $350M of Chart content.

Chart itself continues to grow its technology and services offerings and completed the acquisition at the start of June 2022 of Fronti Fabrications Inc., a specialist in engineering, machining and welding for the cryogenic and gas sectors.

Chart, based in Atlanta, Georgia believes the acquisition will benefit the company’s growing order base in the “Big LNG” and small-scale LNG sectors in the US and elsewhere.

With over 20 years of experience in liquefaction, heat exchangers and cold boxes, Fronti adds a known team to expand Chart’s cold-box manufacturing capacity and capability.

Chart noted that Fronti, which was purchased for $20M, also supplies newbuild pressure vessels and performs repairs with certification to the code of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.