UPS to buy Italy’s Bomi Group to boost healthcare logistics capability

(Corrects assets to 350 vehicles from facilities in paragraph 5)

(Reuters) – United Parcel Service Inc said on Monday it would buy Italy-based healthcare-logistics firm Bomi Group for an undisclosed amount to bolster its capability in delivering medicines that require cold storage.

Healthcare logistics is among the areas the delivery firm has been focusing after it expanded temperature-controlled supply-chain logistics to support the deployment of COVID-19 vaccines globally.

UPS has been focusing on high-margin businesses to offset a decline in volume, as the pandemic-fueled e-commerce boom softens following easing of COVID-related measures.

Europe is the largest region outside of the United States where UPS operates, and it accounted for nearly half of the company’s international package segment revenue last year, according to filings.

The world’s biggest package delivery firm expects to add more than 350 temperature-controlled vehicles, and more than four million square feet (0.37 square kilometer) across 14 countries from the deal.

The deal will allow for faster shipping times and greater production flexibility in the delivery of next-generation pharmaceutical and biologic treatments, UPS said in a statement.

Founded in 1985, Bomi Group helps healthcare providers with warehousing and temperature-controlled supply chain logistics for sensitive pharmaceutical products across Europe and South America.

Atlanta-based UPS did not disclose financial details of the transaction, but the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news on Sunday, said it was for several hundred million dollars.(https://on.wsj.com/3BOoINA)

JPMorgan acted as the sole adviser to UPS.

Bomi’s chief executive officer, Marco Ruini, will continue to head the Italian firm after the deal, UPS said, adding that Bomi’s employees would continue in the combined organization.

(Reporting by Jahnavi Nidumolu and Kanjyik Ghosh in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Elvira Pollina and Kannaki Deka; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Rashmi Aich, Neha Arora and Vinay Dwivedi)