Airgas, Inc. (www.airgas.com) announced Jan. 4 that it acquired Oxygen Service Company, Inc., headquartered in Macon, Ga. and with four other locations in central and southern Georgia. Airgas separately announced it also acquired Alabama Cylinder Gas that has a location in Enterprise, Ala. The six locations have been integrated into Airgas South, one of Airgas' 13 regional companies. Airgas South has headquarters in Kennesaw, Ga., and operates more than 50 locations in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee.

The company said 35 employees of Oxygen Service and employees of Alabama Cylinder Gas will continue with Airgas after the acquisition. Nelson Hooper, co-founder of Alabama Cylinder Gas, will be the branch manager for the Airgas operation in Enterprise, Ala.

The six locations Airgas added through acquisitions were responsible for more than $7 million in sales in 2005.

Airgas, Inc. is the largest U.S. distributor of industrial, medical and specialty gases, and related hard goods, such as welding equipment and supplies; the third-largest U.S. distributor of safety products; the largest U.S. producer of nitrous oxide and dry ice; the largest liquid carbon dioxide producer in the Southeast; and a leading distributor of process chemicals, refrigerants and ammonia products. It has 10,000 employees in nearly 900 locations.