British gas company BOC Group announced yesterday that it had agreed to a £7.2 billion sterling (€11.016 billion) joint takeover bid by French gas company Air Liquide and US company Air Products and Chemicals. BOC employs more than 300 people in Dublin, Belfast and Cork.

Under the deal, which is preconditional on obtaining regulatory consents across the world, Air Liquide and Air Products will create a 50/50 joint venture and offer £14.60 sterling (€22.33) for each BOC share.

BOC has about 250 workers at its plant in Bluebell, Dublin, which produces oxygen, nitrogen and argon gas. It also owns a distribution centre in Belfast, employing 75 people, and has been constructing a new facility in Cork. A subsidiary, Associated Irish Gases, is the Republic's major supplier of carbon dioxide to the brewing, soft drinks and food chilling sectors.

In a conference call to reporters, Air Liquide and Air Products executives said they expect the deal to secure the necessary regulatory approvals within six months.

Shares in BOC opened at £14 on the London Stock Exchange shortly after both companies confirmed the bid, having doubled from £7 last October.

The deal will further strengthen Air Liquide's position as leader of the global gases market, with a 24 per cent market share. Air Products will rise to joint number two with Praxair Inc of the US. Air Liquide and Air Products said there were substantial global growth opportunities in industrial gases for providers of high-quality supplies. BOC began life as Brin's Oxygen Company more than a century ago and has developed into a global gases, distribution and vacuum technology business with 35,000 staff worldwide.

Under the deal, Air Liquide will ultimately own the UK and Irish gases operations of BOC while Air Products will own all the Australasian operations.