GCI HOLDINGS ACQUIRES STIRLING ULTRACOLD, EXTENDING A LEGACY OF ULTRA-LOW TEMPERATURE STORAGE INNOVATION

Athens, Ohio — Stirling Ultracold, innovative developer and manufacturer of ULT freezers, today announced its business was acquired by GCI Holdings, LLC, an Ohio-based limited liability company. Led by entrepreneur, business consultant, and Stirling’s Director of Operations, Clayton Newman, GCI Holdings has signed a definitive agreement and closed on the acquisition of the ULT storage business. Newman will lead the effort to extend ULT freezer innovations, operations and commercial development from Athens, Ohio, as the new CEO of Stirling Ultracold, wholly owned by GCI Holdings.

“I’m excited by the opportunity to blend insights and operational advances we’ve gained with a renewed focus on our unique ULT innovations,” noted Newman. “We plan to keep the business in Ohio, maintain staff in our Athens headquarters and keep the Stirling Ultracold brand in-tact, not simply to maintain business-as-usual, but to build a culture of customer intimacy that will tangibly enhance our customer and partner relationships.”

Stirling Ultracold revolutionized the ultra-low freezer market with commercial introduction of Stirling free-piston engine ULT cooling technology in 2010, leading to development and release of the first ENERGY STAR® certified ULT freezer in the world. The company possesses over 80 patents on various applications of the Stirling technology and has been at the forefront of laboratory sustainability and ULT freezer innovations since its original founding.

With GCI Holdings ownership, Stirling Ultracold will be well positioned to maintain continuity in day-to-day operations, freezer manufacturing/production, new product development and services, including funded accruals covering warranted service for the company’s global installed base of freezers.

About Stirling Ultracold and GCI Holdings
Stirling Ultracold manufactures and provides environmentally sustainable ultra-low temperature (ULT) freezers for the global life science market from its headquarters in Athens, Ohio. Powered by the free-piston Stirling engine, as the first freezer manufacturer in the U.S. to use 100 percent natural refrigerants, Stirling’s upright and undercounter ULT freezers use up to 70 percent less electric power than standard compressor-based ULT freezers, as validated by the industry’s first ENERGY STAR® rating for ULT freezers. The company also produces the industry’s only portable ULT freezer solution, which is ideally suited for remote clinical trials and biologic drug delivery.

Guided by an entrepreneurial, continuous improvement mindset under GCI Holdings’ ownership, Stirling Ultracold’s legacy of innovation will continue with a new emphasis on operational excellence, product quality and customer care, borne from a proven track record of manufacturer turnarounds led by the company’s new CEO, Clayton Newman. For more information, please visit www.stirlingultracold.com or follow Stirling on LinkedIn.

< | >