Cosmetic Ingredients Polish Growth at Air Liquide, Air Products

Hidden within combined sales of more than $25 billion at industrial-gas suppliers Air Liquide SA and Air Products & Chemicals Inc. are small cosmetic-ingredient units prized by the parent companies for their glowing growth.

For Air Liquide’s Seppic business, whose offerings include algae-based additives for skin and hair products, being part of its parent’s health-care division brings benefits, Seppic management board President Armelle Levieux said in an interview. There’s some overlap in the client base, and as a medium-sized business in a big company, Seppic can remain agile. Air Products of the U.S. is taking a similar approach with its unit, said Solomon Lemma, global business manager for specialty additives.