UPS acquires pair of health care logistics operators

Transportation giant to acquire Germany-based Frigo-Trans, BPL in Q1

“The fast-paced innovation in the pharmaceutical industry is creating the need to have more integrated cold and frozen supply chains,” said Kate Gutmann, head of international, healthcare and supply chain solutions at UPS. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

UPS has announced plans to acquire two Germany-based temperature-controlled logistics providers to augment its growing health care logistics business.

The agreement includes Frigo-Trans and its sister company BPL, both of which operate under the Frigo-Trans banner. The Frigo-Trans network provides six temperature-controlled warehouse zones, ranging from minus 196 degrees to 25 degrees Celsius.

Financial terms of the transaction were not provided “at this time,” a Tuesday news release said. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025.

The acquisitions will bolster the UPS Healthcare footprint throughout Europe, which provides time-critical and cold chain logistics.

“The fast-paced innovation in the pharmaceutical industry is creating the need to have more integrated cold and frozen supply chains,” said Kate Gutmann, head of international, health care and supply chain solutions at UPS. “Frigo-Trans will help deepen our portfolio of solutions for our customers and accelerate our journey to become the number one complex healthcare logistics provider in the world addressing their needs.”

Atlanta-based UPS (NYSE: UPS) began expanding its health care unit ahead of the pandemic, buying additional warehouse and distribution space in the U.S. It announced plans to open facilities in the Netherlands and Germany in 2021, and acquired Italian health care logistics provider Bomi Group in 2022.

UPS also acquired California-based time-critical, health care logistics provider MNX Global Logistics a year ago.

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Todd Maiden

Based in Richmond, VA, Todd is the finance editor at FreightWaves. Prior to joining FreightWaves, he covered the TLs, LTLs, railroads and brokers for RBC Capital Markets and BB&T Capital Markets. Todd began his career in banking and finance before moving over to transportation equity research where he provided stock recommendations for publicly traded transportation companies.