Mubadala and EQT to buy global pharmaceutical supply chain solutions company Envirotainer

Partners will support Envirotainer in next phase of growth, accelerating expansion in Asia-Pacific region

Envirotainer makes temperature-controlled containers, used primarily to transport biopharmaceutical products by air. Photo: Mubadala

Mubadala Investment Company, Abu Dhabi’s strategic investment arm, and EQT Private Equity have agreed to acquire Envirotainer, a global temperature-controlled supply chain solutions company for the biopharmaceutical industry.

The financial details of the deal were not provided. However, the enterprise value of Envirotainer is about €2.8 billion ($2.99bn), Mubadala said on Tuesday.

The two partners will support Envirotainer in its next phase of growth, accelerating its expansion in the Asia-Pacific region.

The investment will help the company to maintain stable growth in other core markets, leveraging on EQT’s “local with locals” approach and Mubadala’s global network.

Mubadala and EQT — a global investment manager with €77bn of assets under management across 36 active funds — will also invest in new innovation, digitisation and the sustainability of Envirotainer’s operations.

“Envirotainer plays a mission-critical role in the healthcare ecosystem by ensuring the safe and reliable delivery of drugs from pharma companies to hospitals, clinics and, ultimately, patients,” said Camilla Languille, head of life sciences at Mubadala.

The company’s extensive international footprint ideally positions it to meet the pharmaceutical industry’s growing need for global temperature-controlled distribution, as it continues to pioneer new developments in the sector.

“We have strong conviction in the company’s growth trajectory and will work closely with the management and our partners at EQT to ensure its long-term success,” Ms Languille said.

Founded in 1985 in Stockholm, where its headquarters, research and development, and factories are based, Envirotainer designs, manufactures and leases out active temperature-controlled containers, used primarily to transport biopharmaceutical products by air.

It has a fleet of about 6,700 containers, 375 employees across 20 countries and more than 600 customers worldwide, including many blue-chip pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

“Envirotainer is the clear global leader, with significant scale advantages, superior operations and industry-leading performance,” said Ali Farahani, partner at EQT Private Equity’s advisory team.

“The company has a clear purpose of enabling access to life-saving pharmaceuticals and offers reusable solutions with significantly less [carbon dioxide] emissions, compared to traditional solutions.”

Mubadala, which has an asset base of $284bn, is at the heart of the government’s plans to diversify Abu Dhabi's revenue base and generate income from sources other than oil.

The sovereign wealth fund's portfolio of investments spans six continents with interests in aerospace, information and communications technology, semiconductors, metals and mining, renewable energy, oil and gas, and petrochemicals.

In recent years, the company has shifted focus to further build its portfolio of healthcare and life sciences investment within and outside the UAE.

In December, Mubadala tied up with Group 42, an artificial intelligence and cloud computing company, to set up a biopharmaceutical manufacturing campus in the UAE capital.

The new unit will tap into global vaccine and therapeutic products to strengthen regional supply chains and drive forward the country's diversification and economic growth agenda, it said in a statement at the time.

Under the UAE-UK Sovereign Investment Partnership signed last year, Mubadala agreed to plough £800 million ($1bn) into the life sciences sector of the UK over the next five years. The UK’s Life Sciences Investment Programme agreed to contribute £200m to the investment programme.