, 2012 '''Brin's Oxygen Company''' was formed in 1886, by two French brothers, Arthur and Léon Brin. In the early years, the company manufactured
oxygen using a high-temperature
barium oxide process, known as the
Brin process, developed from the work of
French scientist
Jean-Baptiste Boussingault. The main application for gaseous oxygen at that time was in connection with the generation of
limelight, used in
magic lanterns and theatre lighting. A major new market emerged around 1903, with the development of the
oxyacetylene welding process. Around the same time, new cryogenic air separation processes had been devised independently in
Britain, the
United States and
Germany. The German engineer and founder of the
Linde Group,
Carl von Linde, won the patent for the process. The Brin brothers negotiated an agreement to use the Linde patents. In exchange, von Linde was given a stake and a board position in Brin's Oxygen Company, which he held until 1914. The new process replaced the inefficient barium oxide process, paving the way for larger-scale and more efficient production. In 1906, the Brin brothers renamed the company the
British Oxygen Company (BOC). On 13 July 1999, the BOC board approved a pre-conditional cash offer of £14.60 per share. BOC's assets were to be divided between Air Liquide and Air Products in the US$11 billion deal. On 12 May 2000, the bid lapsed, following failure to reach a satisfactory agreement with the United States
Federal Trade Commission. Following the collapse of the bid, BOC developed a new strategy to stimulate business growth in new products and markets and to reshape its existing portfolio of businesses to improve Group performance. In 2001, BOC announced it was cutting 1,500 jobs. In late 2002, the company merged its Japanese industrial and medical gas businesses with those of Air Liquide to form Japan Air Gases. BOC also acquired Praxair's operations in
Poland. In November 2003, BOC announced that it would complete the sale of Afrox Healthcare—a
hospital and managed health care group operating in
South Africa—to a consortium led by
Black Economic Empowerment investors. The BOC's total revenues in 2005, including its share of joint ventures and associate companies, were £4.6 billion and was then the second largest industrial gas supplier in the world. Industrial gases business made up for more than 80% of sales. The group was getting nearly one-third of its revenues from
Asia Pacific; Europe accounted for 28% and the Americas 27%. After nearly a century of intermittent courtship, BOC became a part of Linde Group and the synergy overtook Air Liquide as the global market leader. On 6 September, BOC employees received a welcome pack including a letter from Linde
CEO Wolfgang Reitzle, a small badge representing the new logo of The Linde Group and a
Swatch watch. Many of these watches quickly appeared on
eBay. On 12 March 2007, the Linde Group divested the vacuum business known as
BOC Edwards to the private investment group
CCMP Capital. ==Operations==