Airgas Southwest Inc history

Since its inception in 1970, WestAir (formerly known as San Diego Welders Supply) quickly became one of the largest independent distributors of gases, gas equipment and welding supplies in the Southwest.

In December 1986 Airgas made an initial public offering of stock, raising $5.5 million.

In September 1987 a secondary offering raised $20 million.

By January 1991 Airgas completed a total of 111 acquisitions and sales exceeded $300 million.

As an incentive to local success McCausland offered managers stock in the subsidiaries they operated; in 1992 the stock could be exchanged for Airgas stock based on the subsidiary's contribution to profits.

Already the largest producer of acetylene gas nationwide, Airgas in late 1993 began construction on an acetylene gas production facility to fulfill a $15 million contract to supply Dow Corning with the gas via pipeline to that company's Midland, Michigan, plant.

1996: Airgas expands product list with Rutland Tool and Supply and IPCO Safety acquisitions.

With 600 outlets in 41 states, Canada, and Mexico, Airgas became the largest distributor of industrial, medical, and specialty gases in the United States, with sales of $1.16 billion for 1997.

1998: Repositioning begins to streamline operations and to reduce the number of regional companies from 35 to 12.

CFO Roger Millay joined Airgas from General Electric Capital Corporation in the fall of 1999.

New prices in January 2001 involved a 10 to 12 percent increase for gases and an 8 to 10 percent increase for cylinder rentals and bulk tank services.

In early 2002 Airgas completed its largest acquisition to date, the $236 million purchase of the United States packaged gas and welding supplies business of Air Products and Chemicals.