On Tuesday, Cryoport—the Tennessee-headquartered cold storage logistics specialist for the global life sciences industry—announced that it will buy MVE Biological Solutions of Georgia, a maker of laboratory cryogenic freezers and vacuum insulated products, from industrial gas equipment maker Chart Industries Inc. The all-cash deal—which values MVE at $320 million—is Cryoport’s second such acquisition in just five days, made possible by a financial boost from private equity iceman Blackstone Group.
Funds managed by Blackstone Tactical Opportunities will invest $275 million to support the transaction, of which $250 million will come from a newly designated issuance of Perpetual 4% Series C Convertible Preferred Stock priced at $1,000 per share, and $25 million of common stock of the Company. Cryoport will pay the remainder from its cash balance.
Post-acquisition, MVE—which posted around $83.7 million in revenue for the 2019 fiscal year—will bolster Cryoport’s position in the cell and gene therapy supply chain, a market that is forecast to grow at 30% to 40% per year. Cryoport expects the acquisition to be immediately accretive to its earnings.
Two deals, five days
Five days ago, Cryoport announced a major expansion of its global supply chain footprint, specifically in the EMEA and APAC markets, with the acquisition of French controlled temperature logistics provider CRYOPDP in yet another all-cash transaction, this one valued at EUR 49 million.
With 25 years in operation, CRYOPDP is the world’s third-largest specialty logistics player in time-critical, temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals. The company operates 22 facilities in 12 countries, covering a major portion of the global healthcare cold supply chain with more than 300,000 time-sensitive, high-value global shipments each year.
The CRYOPDP acquisition is expected to double Cryoport’s revenue run rate to more than $80 million, creating a global biopharma cold supply-chain network that will support a growing number of clinical trials in the field of regenerative medicine and a coming wave of commercializations.
High conviction
“Life sciences and logistics are two of Blackstone’s highest-conviction investment areas and we’re excited to back an industry-leader at the cross-section of these fast-growing sectors,” Blackstone Senior Managing Direct Ram Jagannath said upon the deal’s announcement.
“This acquisition provides multiple value creation opportunities for Cryoport and MVE Biological Solutions that offer additional revenue growth upside, including the development of new product innovations, opportunities to grow with key distributors in the U.S., and the opportunity to increase direct customer sales and distributor relationships globally. This strategic acquisition allows Cryoport to continue to increase services for cell and gene therapy customers, providing mission-critical solutions helping improve patient outcomes and save lives,” he added.
Cold-chain leader
Cryoport is currently the market leader in temperature-controlled logistics for the life sciences industry, supporting 491 active cell and gene therapy and tissue engineering clinical trials, 68% of all Phase III clinical trials in regenerative medicine (e.g. stem cell therapies), serving more than 265 active global clients, and including eight vaccine and treatment programs for covid-19.
Cryoport has partnerships and collaborations with international courier firms FedEx, UPS, and DHL, as well as with multinational health logistics and distributors Lonza, McKesson Specialty Health and World Courier.
The company has placed particular focus on the buildout of its Compliance Unified Ecosystem™ (CUE), an informatics network to streamline global chain of identity, custody, compliance and condition requirements for commercial regenerative therapy programs.
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