UPS buys U.K.-based health care logistics firm

UPS Inc. said today it acquired U.K.-based Polar Speed, which provides temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical supply chain services to companies in its home country. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Polar Speed specializes in active temperature-controlled deliveries to hospitals, pharmacies, wholesalers, and surgery centers as well as to end patients, Atlanta-based UPS said. Polar Speed also serves the homecare direct-to-consumer delivery market.

"The acquisition will help UPS meet the needs of healthcare customers who want to reach the important U.K. market [by] offering increased value in managing more flexible and efficient healthcare supply chains," said Cindy Miller, president of UPS Europe, in a statement.

The acquisition adds three facilities to UPS's existing global health care network, which now totaling 45 health care facilities. In Europe, UPS operates dedicated health care distribution centers in the Benelux area, Central and Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, the Iberian Peninsula, and the United Kingdom.

Polar Speed has a fleet of 118 vehicles for transporting temperature-controlled products in accordance with the U.K.'s Medicines and Health care products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) guidelines.