C-Safe acquires England-based packaging solutions business
A Moraine company that provides shipping and container solutions has acquired a temperature-controlled packaging business headquartered in the United Kingdom.
Moraine-based CSafe Global has announced the acquisition of Softbox Systems of Long Crendon, Buckinghamshire, England. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The combined company, which will operate globally under the CSafe brand, will be the only cold chain platform with an end-to-end active air cargo and passive temperature-controlled packaging business spanning the complete spectrum of cold chain shipping solutions for the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries, according to a press release announcing the deal.
“Through this combination, we will be the partner of choice for cold chain delivery of high value, temperature sensitive pharmaceutical therapies,” CSafe CEO Patrick Schafer said. “Both CSafe and Softbox have proven to be reliable partners for customers seeking a secure way to deliver their life-enhancing products around the world.”
As part of the acquisition, Softbox CEO Kevin Valentine will become president of CSafe’s Passive Temperature Controlled Packaging Division.
“Our businesses are each rooted in a commitment to excellent customer service and high product quality, which made this combination a natural fit,” Valentine said. “Together we will proudly continue to partner with our global pharmaceutical customers to devise and deliver the best solutions for their evolving cold chain shipping needs, supporting the delivery of temperature sensitive lifesaving medicines and vaccines.”
Softbox’s brands in the passive container space, such as SilverSkin, Silverpod and Tempcell, complement CSafe’s active product portfolio, particularly within air cargo. The acquisition also will unlock opportunities for innovation, and enhance CSafe’s sustainable and eco-friendly offerings with new reusable and recyclable pallet and parcel solutions.
“We’re thrilled to now offer our customers a platform that provides everything from the highest quality packaging to AI-enabled thermal and kinetic monitoring and logistics management,” Schafer said.
Together, CSafe and Softbox will aim to provide a comprehensive suite of thermal shipping solutions and become a one-stop-shop for all pharmaceutical cold chain shipping needs, enabling delivery of temperature-sensitive products that include next-generation biologics, cell and gene therapy, and mRNA therapies such as the Covid-19 vaccine.
“With the addition of Softbox’s product portfolio, CSafe strengthens its global infrastructure across air and ground while expanding its offerings for parcel delivery, all supported by the most advanced technology infrastructure,” said Todd Abbrecht, co-CEO of Thomas H. Lee Partners (THL), which first invested in CSafe in 2016. “We see an incredible opportunity for the combined company to serve as the international partner of choice for cold chain shipping solutions and remain on the forefront of innovation in the industry.”
Ben Magnano, co-managing partner of Frazier Healthcare Partners, which bought a 50% stake in CSafe from THL in January, added the acquisition of Softbox advances CSafe’s strategy “to be the leading cold chain solutions provider with a full suite of products and services to meet the needs of its pharmaceutical customers around the globe.”
“CSafe is an excellent platform to build upon and we, alongside our partners at THL, will continue to make investments to further strengthen the company’s leadership position in pharmaceutical cold chain,” Magnano said.
CSafe Global provides end-to-end thermal shipping solutions to the pharmaceutical and life science industries worldwide. The company says it is the only provider of both active and passive solutions, offering AI-enabled lease forecasting to ensure active container availability and real-time shipment visibility for active and passive containers. CSafe has a presence in 150 countries and employed more than 200 people as of 2018.
Softbox is a temperature control packaging company that has been designing and producing passive temperature control packaging solutions for over 25 years. It has global manufacturing sites throughout Europe, the Americas, India and Asia Pacific, where it maintains partnerships with pharmaceutical, clinical research, biotech and logistics companies.
DBJ