As mentioned in a blog posting (http://www.fabtech.org/content/view/1334/73/) way back in March '06, after the acquisition was announced, it was clear that Linde had little interest in BOC Edwards' division or any other element that was not focused on industrial gases. This meant that at some stage after the acquisition, BOC Edwards would be sold off.

The Linde Group announced at that same time as the acquisition being legally finalized that it now intends to ‘review strategic options for the divestment of the equipment businesses,' and has retained Deutsche Bank to manage the disposal process.

"The BOC Edwards equipment businesses have strong positions in their chosen markets, are successful businesses in their own right and will, we believe, prosper, whatever their future ownership structure," Professor Wolfgang Reitzle, President and Chief Executive Officer of Linde AG, said in a statement.

According to Linde, the BOC Edwards equipment businesses had revenues of approximately €800 million for the financial year ending September 2005, but didn't provide more recent figures.

Speculation is expected to grow over which company will ultimately acquire the division, especially since Applied Materials has actively acquired companies such as Metron and ATMI's abatement division, Ecosys, to strengthen its ‘surround the tool' strategy and ‘services' strategy in recent years. Applied currently has no direct vacuum pump product portfolio, but has very recently collaborated with BOC Edwards on copper liquid abatement/recycling technology and worldwide sales and marketing arrangements.