Aurora Capital Partners, a Los Angeles private equity firm, is acquiring Cold Chain Technologies Inc., a maker of thermal packaging that includes plastics.
Franklin, Mass.-based Cold Chain has been around since 1967 and has been led by CEO Larry Gordon for the past 21 years.
The company produces single-use and reusable packaging to help keep products cold during shipment. Key markets include commercial manufacturing, pharmaceutical distribution, clinical trials and direct-to-patient deliveries.
Cold Chain uses both expanded polystyrene and polyurethane shipping containers as well as plastics in a variety of other temperature-control products. Those other products include plastic bottles, pallet systems, gel packs and foam bricks all designed to retain cold temperatures during transit.
The company has manufacturing locations in Franklin; Reno, Nev.; and La Vergne, Tenn. The total number of company sites jumps to more than 20 when including distribution locations. That includes just-in-time freezer locations that deliver chilled or frozen refrigerants throughout North America.
"CCT has built a premiere reputation in the cold chain packaging industry where the high cost of product spoilage has driven an intense focus by life sciences customers on quality and reliability," Aurora partner Mark Rosenbaum said in a statement.
"With the company's long list of blue-chip clients and track record of organic growth, we believe CCT is well-positioned as the best platform in the industry to continue to grow with its customers both domestically and internationally," he continued.
Gordon, for his part, gave a typical reason for joining up with Aurora.
"While our ongoing success has enabled us to self-fund our extensive growth over the past 21 years, it became clear that finding the right partner would allow us to accelerate our growth plans," he said in a statement.
Aurora is a past investor in both injection molder United Plastics Group Inc., now UPG Co. LLC of Houston, and Industrial Container Services LLC of Maitland, Fla., a maker and manager of reusable containers including plastic drums and intermediate bulk containers.
Gordon and current management are staying with Cold Chain.
