Hydrogen liquefaction specialist Chart Industries has today (March 17) announced the completition of the acquisition of Howden for $4.4bn.

The acquisition allows Chart to gain immediate access to new customers and commercial opportunities, increasing its geographical footprint to over 35 customers.

Howden recently announced plans to support hydrogen refuelling station system designer Hydrexia and revealed it would supply compressors for Atura Power’s Niagara Hydrogen Centre, Canada.

As a result of the customer gains, Chart says it is on track to meet or exceed previously announced targets for $175m of annualised cost synergies and $150m of commercial synergies in the first year of ownership.

“We are excited to welcome the Howden team to the start family and look forward to the combined business executing on record momentum and well-defined synergies,” said Jill Evanko, CEO and President of Chart.

The Chart CEO said that since the company announced the combination last November (2022), it has received a number of inbounds from customers that can already see the combined benefits.

Continuing to operate under its “One Chart” commercial and engineering structures, the new Chart executive management team will include a balance of Chart and legacy Howden executives.

Howden in 2022 saw a 47% increase in orders for its products in renewable hydrogen for the full year, with a backlog as of December 31, 2022, of $1.3bn.