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UPS acquires Italian healthcare logistics firm

Move represents parcel giant's latest expansion into key vertical segment.

Mark Solomon
By Mark SolomonNov 30, 2011
Mark Solomon
Mark Solomon joined DC VELOCITY as senior editor in August 2008, and was promoted to his current position on January 1, 2015. He has spent more than 30 years in the transportation, logistics and supply chain management fields as a journalist and public relations professional. From 1989 to 1994, he worked in Washington as a reporter for the Journal of Commerce, covering the aviation and trucking industries, the Department of Transportation, Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to that, he worked for Traffic World for seven years in a similar role. From 1994 to 2008, Mr. Solomon ran Media-Based Solutions, a public relations firm based in Atlanta. He graduated in 1978 with a B.A. in journalism from The American University in Washington, D.C.
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UPS Inc., continuing its expansion into the healthcare logistics segment, said today it has purchased Pieffe Group, an Italy-based pharmaceutical logistics company, for an undisclosed sum.

Family-owned Pieffe has been in business for 35 years and serves the pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device industries. The purchase represents a departure from UPS's past practice of building healthcare logistics capabilities mostly through organic growth and expansion.

Pieffe operates two healthcare distribution locations, one in Rome and the other in Milan, which total 753,000 square feet of space and include 12 cold storage areas. With the two facilities, UPS now has a network of 32 healthcare facilities worldwide, with a total of 4 million square feet of space.

UPS laid the groundwork for its push into healthcare logistics in 2000, when it acquired logistics firm Livingston Healthcare Services. Since then, it has mostly focused on building or expanding facilities in key markets. One exception was in 2009, when it acquired two U.S. facilities from pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. when Merck turned over most of its U.S. distribution operations to UPS.

During 2011, UPS opened dedicated healthcare facilities in Singapore, the Netherlands, Canada, Brazil, and Louisville, Ky., home of its global air hub.

ArticleTransportation
january 2012pieffe groupups
ArticleTransportation
january 2012pieffe groupups

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