International private equity firm, Cinven, and co-investor, Novo Holdings, have agreed to the sale of Envirotainer (‘the Company’), a leading global provider of mission-critical, temperature-controlled air cargo services for the pharmaceutical industry, to EQT and Mubadala, for an Enterprise Value of approximately €2.8 billion. As part of the transaction, Envirotainer’s current shareholders will have the opportunity to reinvest in the business as minority shareholders.

Founded in 1985 and headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Envirotainer designs, manufactures and leases active temperature-controlled containers, used primarily for air freighting biopharma products. With a fleet of c. 6,700 containers globally, the Company has more than 600 customers worldwide, including many blue-chip global pharma and biotech companies. Envirotainer has approximately 375 employees and an extensive global network of more than 60 service stations.

The Company developed and marketed the first container with an active temperature control system in 1995, enabling it to meet the complex needs of transporting biopharmaceuticals at stable temperatures. Today, Envirotainer supports the transportation of approximately 2 million doses of medicines per day for all major pharmaceutical manufacturers, ensuring medicine is safely delivered to destinations around the globe.

Cinven’s Nordic team identified Envirotainer as an attractive investment opportunity in 2012 and tracked the business closely for six years, working with Cinven’s Business Services, Healthcare and Industrials Sector teams to develop a compelling investment thesis for the Company. The Sixth Cinven Fund together with co-investor Novo Holdings, ultimately acquired Envirotainer in September 2018.

Since acquisition, Cinven and Novo Holdings have worked in close partnership with the Company to drive its strong performance, including through:

  • Significant investment in R&D and innovation to support new product launches, including the next generation Releye platform, which has further enhanced Envirotainer’s market-leading sustainability credentials, and CryoSure, a shipment solution for the cryogenic (-70°C) segment;
  • International expansion, with Envirotainer continuing to expand its geographical reach and entering new markets; notably, Envirotainer has significantly grown its business in China, India and South Korea, key emerging pharmaceuticals markets, through investment into three new service stations, the local sales force and expansion of existing infrastructure;
  • Enhancing Envirotainer’s digital capabilities, introducing live shipment monitoring for customers as well as leveraging data analytics to facilitate predictive maintenance of the large container fleet; and
  • Investments in the organisation, including strengthening the senior management team and Envirotainer’s operational capabilities, as well as supporting the relocation to a new HQ. This has ensured continuous best-in-class delivery of Envirotainer’s mission-critical services, minimising product waste for customers and successfully navigating through the disruption to global supply chains arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Commenting on the investment, Pontus Pettersson, Partner at Cinven, said:

“Envirotainer is a great business in a highly attractive market. We are very proud of the success that the Company has achieved during Cinven’s ownership period – it is a great example of Cinven’s strategy to back leading Swedish and European businesses to expand internationally and to invest in new products, digitalisation, and operational excellence to drive growth.

“Envirotainer is in a strong position to continue to take advantage of the market opportunity and we are confident the company will continue to do very well in the future.”

Peter Gisel-Ekdahl, CEO of Envirotainer, added:

“The support of Cinven and Novo Holdings has enabled us to continue to develop best-in-class solutions to support our clients and the healthcare industry, including the recently launched Releye platform and our new CryoSure solution which has enabled us to enter into a new and attractive part of the temperature-controlled transportation market. As a result, Envirotainer has continued to maintain a market-leading position and to serve all top pharmaceutical companies. We are very excited for the company’s next chapter.”

Christian Salling, Senior Partner at Novo Holdings, also commented:

“Envirotainer has been on an impressive journey in recent years and management has done an outstanding job of creating a leading provider of mission-critical services to the pharmaceutical industry. We are very proud to be part of that journey and Envirotainer is a good example of our engaged ownership model, that we exercise together with leading investment partners.”

Completion of the transaction is expected in the second half of 2022 and is subject to customary antitrust approvals.