BioLife Solutions, Inc. , a developer and supplier of a portfolio of class-defining bioproduction products and services for cell and gene therapies and the broader biopharma market, announced that it has closed the previously announced acquisition of Stirling Ultracold ("Stirling"), a privately held manufacturer of ultra-low temperature ("ULT") mechanical freezers. BioLife issued 6,646,870 shares of common stock in exchange for 100% of the outstanding shares of Stirling.
BioLife management has provided guidance for Stirling's 2021 post-closing revenue contribution to be $35 million $37 million, with total 2021 revenue of $101 million $110 million.
BioLife also announced that Stirling has expanded its existing partnership with a leading global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) and has been selected by this customer as their preferred provider of ULT storage across their multiple business units. Stirling will supply approximately 100 energy-efficient ULT mechanical freezers to support this customer's cold chain capabilities for biologics and emerging modalities. This augments the existing installed base of 200 Stirling freezers across this CDMO's worldwide facilities footprint.
Mike Rice, BioLife CEO, commented, "We welcome Dusty Tenney in his new role as BioLife's president and chief operating officer. Dusty and the entire Stirling team continue to deliver innovative solutions and stellar support to cell and gene therapy developers and contract manufacturing companies. We are realizing the cross-selling leverage we anticipated via our M&A strategy, as this customer uses our entire bioproduction tools and services portfolio. In addition to Stirling freezers, our proprietary CryoStor biopreservation media, automated, water-free ThawSTAR thaw systems, evo cold chain management platform, CBS cryogenic freezers and SciSafe storage services are all used to optimized the manufacture, storage, transport and thawing of life-saving cell and gene therapies. We see a tremendous opportunity to cross-sell our entire bioproduction tools and services portfolio to companies in the cell and gene therapy and broader biopharma markets."