Strategic realignment at va-Q-tec: Focus lies on five growth areas

Würzburg, 4. September 2024. va-Q-tec, manufacturer of Vacuum Insulation Panels (VIPs) and provider of temperature-controlled transport packaging solutions, is strategically realigning itself and investing more heavily in five growth areas. As of September 4th, 2024, the sale and rental of vacuum-insulated boxes and containers for the worldwide transport of pharmaceutical products was fully integrated into the Swedish company Envirotainer. With this step, va-Q-tec is completing the plans already announced in December 2022 with the public takeover offered by EQT Private Equity. The product business for the production and application of Vacuum Insulation Panels, transport boxes and temperature storage elements (PCMs; phase change materials) for other industries will be continued as planned in the independent va-Q-tec Thermal Solutions GmbH. At the same time, the new va-Q-tec GmbH has concluded an exclusive agreement with Envirotainer for the production and supply of highly insulating thermal boxes for the pharmaceutical industry. The sites in Würzburg and Kölleda will be retained and will produce for the focused growth areas in the future.

“Our range of temperature-controlled transport services for medicines has developed rapidly, not least due to the coronavirus pandemic, and is now positioned internationally. The merger of this business unit with Envirotainer, which also transports medicines worldwide, is therefore a logical step. In other industries, our vacuum insulation also has great potential to make processes more sustainable and save energy. We will therefore focus even more strongly on these growth areas,” says Dr. Joachim Kuhn, founder and CEO of va-Q-tec.

New va-Q-tec invests in five business areas

Possible applications for va-Q-tec’s highly insulating and space-saving panels based on the thermos flask principle can be found primarily in the areas of Food Transportation, Appliances, Construction, Technics & Industry/Mobility and pharmaceutical transportation on the so-called Last Mile, such as in pharmacies. In recent years, va-Q-tec has invested in research and development in these five business areas and developed new, energy-saving solutions. Dr. Joachim Kuhn and Robert Binder (CFO) are continuing to drive business forward in these sectors. The new va-Q-tec company is expected to generate sales in the mid double-digit million range in 2024. The growth trajectory that va-Q-tec has already demonstrated in the past is to be continued.

“With the realignment of va-Q-tec Thermal Solutions GmbH, we are addressing global megatrends such as sustainability, energy efficiency and product safety in temperature-sensitive supply chains. I am convinced that we are only at the beginning of our growth story. In the Healthcare & Logistics sector, va-Q-tec has made an international name for itself as areliable partner. We are already in the process of establishing ourselves in numerous other areas such as Technics & Industry or the food sector,” comments Dr. Joachim Kuhn on the company’s future plans.

va-Q-tec was founded in 2001 by physicists Dr. Kuhn and Dr. Caps as a university spin-off headquartered in Würzburg. The company went public in 2016. In July 2023, the Swedish investment company EQT Private Equity acquired a majority stake in va-Q-tec. Envirotainer is also a portfolio company of EQT Private Equity.