Chart Industries builds the equipment behind the liquid gas value chain. Liquefaction trains, cryogenic storage, regasification skids, compressors and heat exchangers moving LNG, hydrogen, biogas, helium and industrial gases from production to end use. Revenue reached $4.3 billion in 2025 across customers in more than 50 countries. Europe holds a large share of the engineering and manufacturing base, anchored by Chart Ferox in Děčín and Howden operations across 35 countries.
In February 2026 the company appointed Arja Talakar as President Europe, following a search run by Christian & Timbers.
The European Energy Mandate
The region carried three demands at once. European gas infrastructure was rebuilding around imported LNG and floating regasification. Hydrogen, liquefied biogas, carbon capture and nuclear were converting from pilot volume into ordered equipment. And data center power and cooling had started pulling cryogenic and thermal management products into a market with no history of buying them.
All of this sat inside a company with a pending $13.6 billion sale to Baker Hughes, a departing CEO and an open competition file in Brussels. European customers commit to multi-year delivery schedules and lifecycle service agreements. Order timing in the region would move on one question: whether the leadership signing those commitments would still be there to honor them.
Christian & Timbers was retained to fill the seat with an operator whose record covered European industrial P&L ownership, aftermarket and service platform economics, and integration through ownership change.
Talakar brought 23 years at Siemens across the United States, Germany, South Korea and Saudi Arabia. He led Siemens Saudi Arabia, became CEO of Siemens Oil & Gas in Houston in April 2019, then served as CEO of Dresser-Rand and Senior Vice President of Industrial Applications at Siemens Energy, running a full integration and repositioning the business toward the energy transition. His final Siemens assignment addressed platform challenges at Siemens Gamesa and restored customer confidence. Engineering degree from Technische Universität Braunschweig, MBA from IMD.
What the Role Covered from Day One
Talakar took responsibility for the European operating base across Chart's product lines and Howden's air and gas handling portfolio: cryogenic tanks and trailers, brazed aluminum heat exchangers, cold boxes, liquefaction and regasification systems, compressors and blowers, plus the repair, service and leasing network attached to the installed fleet.
Aftermarket carries the margin quality behind the combined portfolio, representing over 30% of pro forma revenue at roughly 42% gross margin. Chart entered 2026 with 703 new customers added during 2025, Uptime asset connections up 29% and service agreements up 21% year over year. Talakar had built global aftermarket services businesses for power generation and industrial applications across Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Middle East, which put the largest recurring revenue pool in the region under a leader who had scaled the same model before.
Results in the First Two Quarters
Record backlog. Chart closed the first quarter of 2026 with backlog at $6.28 billion, the highest in company history and up from $5.14 billion a year earlier.
European orders led the quarter. Cryo Tank orders in Europe ranked among the strongest categories in the period, alongside small-scale LNG and data center demand in Heat Transfer Systems.
Energy infrastructure momentum held. Chart's modular regasification systems drew fresh contract activity through the spring as floating storage and regasification projects moved forward, while the European base continued serving liquefied biogas refuelling, hydrogen, carbon capture and nuclear applications.
Regulatory clearance secured. On July 10, 2026 the European Commission approved the Baker Hughes transaction, conditional on divestiture of Chart's proprietary and small-scale LNG process technology and ten-year interoperability commitments covering third-party LNG equipment.
The acquisition closed. Baker Hughes completed the purchase on July 16, 2026 at $210 per share, roughly $13.6 billion in enterprise value. Chart became a third Baker Hughes operating segment covering air and gas handling, thermal management and lifecycle services, with a cost synergy target of $325 million by year three.
European leadership stayed in place. Chart's board and most executive officers ceased their roles at the effective time of the merger. Talakar continues as President Europe.
Timeline
- February 2026: Arja Talakar appointed President Europe at Chart Industries
- May 11, 2026: Q1 backlog reaches a record $6.28 billion; European Cryo Tank orders among the strongest categories
- June 2026: Modular LNG regasification wins draw renewed attention to Chart's energy infrastructure portfolio
- July 10, 2026: European Commission clears the Baker Hughes transaction with conditions
- July 16, 2026: Baker Hughes completes the $13.6 billion acquisition; Chart becomes a third operating segment with a $325 million synergy target
- August 2026: Talakar remains President Europe inside the new structure
Placing Leadership Ahead of a Transaction
Most searches assume a stable org chart. Chart Europe offered a departing CEO, an open regulatory file, an acquirer with a declared synergy program and a European energy equipment business expected to keep booking and shipping through all of it.
With over 2,000 CEO and board placements for global corporations and 5,000+ C-suite assignments completed, Christian & Timbers built the specification around the transaction and assessed candidates on integration outcomes, aftermarket economics and customer retention through ownership change. The firm's AI-powered, science-based search process matched Chart with a Siemens operator whose record covered all three, in the window where the region needed continuity most.
Chart now sits inside Baker Hughes with exposure to gas infrastructure, hydrogen, nuclear, carbon capture, geothermal and data center demand. Europe entered that structure with a president already appointed, already accountable and already delivering a record backlog.
