Pelican Products history

Word spread about the light’s effectiveness, and one day in 1978 Parker received a call from a man who identified himself as Bob and claimed he was with the military and wanted to order 2,000 of the diving flashlights, offering $43,000 in payment up front, in cash.

In 1979 Pelican introduced its first watertight equipment protector case, ideal for diving photographers and other users.

The business was established enough that in 1980 Parker was able to sell his graphics business, and his wife quit her job at TWA.

In 1993 Parker was named a Small Business Person of the Year on the local level and then became second runner-up in a national competition.

In January 1997 it established Peli Products S.A. in Barcelona, Spain, to better serve current European customers and add new ones.

In 1998 Minneapolis-based Norwest Equity Partners, a private equity firm with a Los Angeles office, invested $8.5 million to gain a minority stake.

Meanwhile, in 2000 in the UK, Cool Logistics was founded and rapidly became Europe’s leading supplier of single use pharmaceutical temperature-controlled shipping.

In 2001 Pelican began working with a California state agency, Employment Training Panel, which provided financial support to allow 140 employees to receive training on manufacturing techniques from the Massachusetts-based Lean Enterprise Institute.

However, Arline Parker contracted cancer and died in April 2002, the same year her husband turned 65.

The company grew steadily over the years and in 2004 the company was acquired by private equity firm Behrman Capital.

Parker, at the age of 69, retired as CEO at the beginning of September 2006 and assumed a newly created position, vice-chairman of the board.

Seeing an opportunity to widen their product portfolio to include pharmaceutical temperature-controlled packaging, Pelican Products acquired MTS in 2012, adding them to their newly formed BioPharma Division.