Aurora Capital Partners , a leading middle-market private equity firm, announced the acquisition of Cold Chain Technologies , a leading global provider of single-use and reusable passive thermal packaging solutions that ensure reliable shipment of temperature-sensitive materials, principally serving the life sciences supply chain. The Company’s products are used in many segments of the life sciences industry, including commercial manufacturing, pharmaceutical distribution, clinical trials, specialty pharmacy deliveries, and direct-to-patient shipments. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Headquartered in Franklin, Massachusetts, Cold Chain Technologies has been a leader in temperature-sensitive packaging solutions since its founding in 1967. Over the last 21 years, under the leadership of CEO Larry Gordon and his management team, the Company has developed the industry’s broadest portfolio of high-performing proprietary products, including a variety of modular single-use and reusable parcel and pallet shippers, thermal pallet covers, and phase change materials. CCT’s engineering and technical staff also provide its customers with access to custom packaging design and development utilizing advanced thermal modeling and a variety of technical and product qualification services to deliver tailored support to meet the unique needs of each client.
“CCT has built a premiere reputation in the cold chain packaging industry where the high cost of product spoilage has driven an intense focus by life sciences customers on quality and reliability,” said Mark Rosenbaum, Partner at Aurora. “With the Company’s long list of blue-chip clients and track record of organic growth, we believe CCT is well positioned as the best platform in the industry to continue to grow with its customers both domestically
and internationally.”
“CCT is an excellent fit with Aurora’s investment strategy, and we are proud that Larry and his team selected Aurora as their partner for the next phase of CCT’s growth,” said Randy Moser, Partner at Aurora. “We are thrilled to be partnering with such an outstanding team, and we are excited to explore the number of opportunities that we believe exist to deploy additional capital to help CCT realize its full potential.”
“We built CCT on a ‘customer first’ philosophy, and we have continued to expand our offerings as our clients’ needs have evolved,” said Larry Gordon, CEO of Cold Chain Technologies. “While our ongoing success has enabled us to self-fund our extensive growth over the past 21 years, it became clear that finding the right partner would allow us to accelerate our growth plans. We couldn’t have found a better partner than Aurora to help us continue to exceed our customers’ expectations as we expand globally, develop exciting new products, and grow our reusable
solutions offering.”
President Bob Bohne added, “We are excited to partner with Aurora, a firm with an outstanding track record of success working with founder-owned businesses that can also draw on its extensive industry experience and broad network of talented resources. We selected Aurora not only because they share our vision and support our growth strategy but because of the strong cultural alignment that exists between our firms.”
Larry Gordon will continue in his role as CEO. Bob Bohne, the executive leadership team, and the talented group of middle managers will all remain with CCT as it embarks on its next chapter with Aurora as its partner.
This transaction marks the seventh investment from Aurora Equity Partners V, which has $1.2 billion in commitments, and the fifth investment from this fund where Aurora is partnering with a founder or founder family.
Harris Williams & Co. served as financial advisor to CCT, while Goodwin Procter LLP served as legal advisor. Robert W. Baird & Co. served as financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal advisor to Aurora.
About Aurora Capital Partners
Aurora Capital Partners is a leading private equity firm focused principally on control investments in middle-market companies with leading market positions, stable industry dynamics, attractive business model characteristics and actionable opportunities for growth in partnership with management. Aurora provides unique resources to its portfolio companies through its Strategy & Operations Program and its team of experienced operating advisors. Aurora’s investors include leading public and corporate pension funds, endowments and foundations active in private equity investing. For more information about Aurora Capital Partners, visit: www.auroracap.com.
About Cold Chain Technologies
Cold Chain Technologies is a leading global provider of reusable and single-use thermal packaging solutions for the shipment of temperature-sensitive material, principally serving the life sciences supply chain. With more than 50 years of ensuring product safety in transit, CCT has built a reputation as the industry’s most innovative and reliable provider to the largest global life sciences OEMs and distributors. For more information about CCT, visit: www.coldchaintech.com.
