The factory targeted in a suspected Islamist attack in south-east France is owned by Air Products, a US company based in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
The company supplies gases, chemicals and equipment for products ranging from TVs and mobile phones to sports cars and running shoes.
It was unclear on Friday whether the company was targeted because it was American.
In a statement, it said: “Our priority at this stage is to take care of our employees, who have been evacuated from the site and all accounted for.
“Emergency services are on site and have contained the situation. The site is secure. Our crisis and emergency response teams have been activated and are working closely with all relevant authorities.”
Air Products was founded in 1940 and is now the 276th largest company in the US with $10.4bn of global sales last year. It employs more than 20,000 people in 50 countries.
Its French subsidiary, created in 1990, employs 400 people across a number of sites. It is the third largest producer of atmospheric gases in France, with more than 15% of the market.
The company’s chair and chief executive is Seifi Ghasemi, an Iranian who emigrated to the US in the 1960s and holds a masters degree from Stanford University.
