Industrial Gas Distribution
Distributors supplying compressed industrial gases to manufacturing.
Market snapshot
These figures describe Chemical & Industrial Gas Distribution (5.4.2), the segment that Industrial Gas Distribution sits within — not Industrial Gas Distribution on its own.
- Market size
- ~$316B
- Growth
- ~5.7%CAGR (2017–22, nominal)
- Companies
- ~11,700
U.S. Census Bureau 2022 CBP/Economic Census, NAICS 424610 (plastics materials) + 424690 (other chemical & allied products).
Business model & economics
Revenue model
Chemical resale with repackaging, blending, and hazmat service
Key economics
- Recurring revenue
- Moderate–High
- EBITDA margin
- Moderate
- Capex intensity
- Moderate
recurring industrial reorder
service- and hazmat-differentiated
Characteristics
- Global leaders (Univar, Brenntag) plus regional distributors.
- Value-add via repackaging, blending, and hazmat handling.
- Regulatory complexity creates barriers to entry.
Geographic concentration
Chemical and industrial-gas distribution concentrates in the industrial Midwest and chemical-corridor Northeast — Ohio, Michigan, and New Jersey — serving dense manufacturing demand.
U.S. Census Bureau — 2022 County Business Patterns (establishments by state), NAICS 424610. Concentration shown by location quotient.
M&A deal context
Who’s acquiring
- Global chemical-distribution strategics
- PE-backed specialty-chemical distributors
- Regional consolidators
What’s driving deals
- Consolidation around scaled distributors.
- Specialty and value-added chemical distribution.
- Regulatory and safety-driven barriers.
Find Industrial Gas Distribution acquisition targets
Search Acquisera’s index for companies classified under Industrial Gas Distribution (5.4.2.2) and build a targeted deal pipeline.
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