Lineage Logistics acquiring Preferred Freezer Services

The deal appears to make Lineage the world’s largest operator of temperature controlled warehouses.    The announcement Monday by Lineage Logistics that it will acquire Preferred Freezer Services will apparently make it the largest operator of temperature-controlled warehouses in the world.
   Lineage said the combination of the two companies would give it “1.3 billion cubic feet of temperature-controlled capacity across over 200 facilities, with a global footprint that spans North America, Europe and Asia.”
   Lineage had been ranked as the second largest refrigerated warehouse and logistics provider on a 2018 list published by the International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses. The deal appears to propel it ahead of Americold Realty Trust, which said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week that Americold has about 918.7 million cubic feet of warehouse space in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, as well as a minority interest in a 12-reefer warehouse joint venture in China.
   Lineage said it and Preferred “have highly complementary real estate and customer bases, making their combination a strategic expansion into new markets and new service offerings.”
   “This transaction marks a significant milestone for the temperature-controlled logistics industry,” Lineage said, adding that “customers will now be able to benefit from the complementary capabilities of two of the industry’s most innovative companies.”
   Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Each of the two companies is backed by an investment firm: Lineage by Bay Grove in San Francisco and Preferred by Fenway Partners in New York.
   Founded in 2008, Lineage has grown rapidly through both acquisitions and internal growth. Last November it acquired U.K-based company Yearsley Group and opened Lineage Cool Port Oakland, a new refrigerated warehouse in the Port of Oakland in partnership with Dreisbach Enterprises.