Key Takeaways
- • Odyssey Investment Partners makes majority investment in Falcon Gases, a newly formed packaged industrial gas distribution platform launched in late 2025, signaling private equity's accelerating consolidation of a fragmented $12.8–$27.3 billion US market.
- • Falcon acquires Encore Gas & Supply as its inaugural platform acquisition, establishing a Southern California cylinder gas and fill plant operation with three locations (Long Beach, Ontario, Valencia) and a proven 12-year track record serving aerospace, laboratories, healthcare, and metalworking sectors.
- • Management team combines deep industry expertise: CEO Pete Jeffe (Hawkwood Energy co-founder, $300M EBITDA builder; StratosFuel renewable hydrogen CEO), CCO Chris Granger (40+ years at Praxair/Union Carbide, former VP of packaged gas), and VP Steve Morton (former VP US operations at Linde/Praxair).
- • US industrial gas market projected at $24.2 billion by 2033 (8.5% CAGR per Grand View Research) or $49.8 billion (6.9% CAGR per Nova One Advisor), with regional independents positioned for consolidation below dominant players Airgas (Air Liquide subsidiary, ~1,400 locations), Linde, and Nippon Sanso Matheson.
- • Falcon is Odyssey's second 2026 platform investment, following July's TransPak acquisition, and part of a broader PE roll-up strategy targeting family-owned and regional gas distributors; Meritus Gas Partners (AEA-backed) has assembled 25+ distributor partners as a direct competitor.
Summary
Odyssey Investment Partners has established Falcon Gases as a new majority-controlled platform company focused on consolidating independent packaged industrial gas distributors across North America. Formed in late 2025, Falcon announced its first acquisition of Encore Gas & Supply, a Long Beach, California-based distributor founded in 2014 by Ben Anderson and Kelly Park. The transaction creates an anchor operation with three Southern California locations (Long Beach, Ontario, Valencia) and established fill plant infrastructure to support Falcon's strategy of acquiring and retaining regional distributors under their original brands and management.
Encore supplies pure gases (argon, acetylene, specialty blends, calibration and ultra-high-purity gases) and welding supplies including equipment, filler metals, and repair services to customers spanning aerospace, analytical laboratories, contractors, healthcare providers, food and beverage, metal fabrication, and motorsports. The acquisition gives Falcon immediate market access and operational capabilities in one of the nation's largest metropolitan areas while positioning the platform to consolidate the historically fragmented "long tail" of regional and family-owned packaged gas distributors.
Falcon's leadership combines extensive energy and industrial gas sector experience. CEO Pete Jeffe co-founded Hawkwood Energy in 2010, growing the oil and gas producer from one employee to $300 million EBITDA over a decade before serving as CEO of StratosFuel, a renewable hydrogen developer. Chief Commercial Officer Chris Granger spent over 40 years at Union Carbide and Praxair (now Linde), retiring as vice president of Praxair's packaged gas business in the South. VP of Projects Steve Morton previously held the VP US operations title at Linde and Praxair, while CFO Eric Friedman brings investment experience from New Mountain Capital and prior collaboration with Jeffe at StratosFuel.
The US packaged industrial gas market represents significant consolidation opportunity. Market size estimates range from $12.8 billion in 2025 (Grand View Research, projecting 8.5% annual growth to $24.2 billion by 2033) to $27.3 billion in 2024 (Nova One Advisor, forecasting 6.9% CAGR to $49.8 billion by 2033). Three major players dominate: Airgas (~1,400 locations, Air Liquide subsidiary since 2016's $13.4 billion acquisition), Linde (formed via 2018 Praxair-Linde AG combination), and Nippon Sanso Matheson (Nippon Sanso Holdings subsidiary since 1989). Below these incumbents, private equity has begun systematic roll-ups; AEA Investors-backed Meritus Gas Partners, formed December 2020, has assembled over 25 distributor partners including Metroplex Welding Supply (July 2026) and Allied Gases & Welding Supplies (September 2026).
Odyssey, headquartered in New York and founded in 1997, invests $100–$300 million in majority-control transactions targeting companies with enterprise values of $100 million to $1 billion and $20 million-plus EBITDA. Falcon represents the firm's second 2026 platform launch following its July investment in TransPak, a San Jose-based crating and packaging provider. Odyssey's sixth fund closed at its $3.25 billion hard cap in February 2020, up from $2 billion for Fund V in 2014, bringing total capital raised since inception to $8.3 billion. The firm completed the $1.3 billion sale of Applied Technical Services to SGS in January 2026.
Encore supplies pure gases (argon, acetylene, specialty blends, calibration and ultra-high-purity gases) and welding supplies including equipment, filler metals, and repair services to customers spanning aerospace, analytical laboratories, contractors, healthcare providers, food and beverage, metal fabrication, and motorsports. The acquisition gives Falcon immediate market access and operational capabilities in one of the nation's largest metropolitan areas while positioning the platform to consolidate the historically fragmented "long tail" of regional and family-owned packaged gas distributors.
Falcon's leadership combines extensive energy and industrial gas sector experience. CEO Pete Jeffe co-founded Hawkwood Energy in 2010, growing the oil and gas producer from one employee to $300 million EBITDA over a decade before serving as CEO of StratosFuel, a renewable hydrogen developer. Chief Commercial Officer Chris Granger spent over 40 years at Union Carbide and Praxair (now Linde), retiring as vice president of Praxair's packaged gas business in the South. VP of Projects Steve Morton previously held the VP US operations title at Linde and Praxair, while CFO Eric Friedman brings investment experience from New Mountain Capital and prior collaboration with Jeffe at StratosFuel.
The US packaged industrial gas market represents significant consolidation opportunity. Market size estimates range from $12.8 billion in 2025 (Grand View Research, projecting 8.5% annual growth to $24.2 billion by 2033) to $27.3 billion in 2024 (Nova One Advisor, forecasting 6.9% CAGR to $49.8 billion by 2033). Three major players dominate: Airgas (~1,400 locations, Air Liquide subsidiary since 2016's $13.4 billion acquisition), Linde (formed via 2018 Praxair-Linde AG combination), and Nippon Sanso Matheson (Nippon Sanso Holdings subsidiary since 1989). Below these incumbents, private equity has begun systematic roll-ups; AEA Investors-backed Meritus Gas Partners, formed December 2020, has assembled over 25 distributor partners including Metroplex Welding Supply (July 2026) and Allied Gases & Welding Supplies (September 2026).
Odyssey, headquartered in New York and founded in 1997, invests $100–$300 million in majority-control transactions targeting companies with enterprise values of $100 million to $1 billion and $20 million-plus EBITDA. Falcon represents the firm's second 2026 platform launch following its July investment in TransPak, a San Jose-based crating and packaging provider. Odyssey's sixth fund closed at its $3.25 billion hard cap in February 2020, up from $2 billion for Fund V in 2014, bringing total capital raised since inception to $8.3 billion. The firm completed the $1.3 billion sale of Applied Technical Services to SGS in January 2026.
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