Lineage seals first international acquisition

The California-based warehousing and logistics company will purchase Partner Logistics, based in the Netherlands, in a bid to expand its automated warehousing services into Europe.    Temperature-controlled warehousing company Lineage Logistics has acquired the Netherlands-based cold storage provider Partner Logistics, the first international acquisition by Lineage, the company said in a statement.
   The California-based warehousing company is backed by investment firm Bay Grove, LLC, but financial terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed.
   With the acquisition of Partner, Lineage will add over 101 million cubic feet of temperature-controlled capacity and expand its operations to include six fully automated warehouses and one conventional warehouse in the Netherlands, Belgium and the United Kingdom.
   Partner’s network of cold storage facilities has a total capacity of over 500,000 pallets and is designed to maximize the efficiency and cost effectiveness of their customers’ supply chains, said Lineage.
   “Our acquisition of Partner Logistics represents Lineage’s ongoing commitment to serving our customers’ global supply chains by delivering dynamic, sophisticated cold chain logistics solutions,” Lineage President and CEO Greg Lehmkuhl said of the deal. “We are thrilled to welcome the Partner team and are confident their incredible industry expertise, particularly in automation, will accelerate Lineage as a thought leader in this area with existing and new customers.”
   According to Lineage, the acquisition marks an important step in its broader automation strategy. Earlier this year, the company announced plans to construct its first automated cold storage facility in Texas and will use the new acquisition as an additional platform for new automated projects in U.S. and European markets.
   “The vision of Lineage Logistics is to be the world’s most dynamic temperature-controlled logistics company, and our expansion into Europe is a significant milestone in achieving that goal,” said Adam Forste, managing partner at Bay Grove. “This transaction also highlights our commitment to automation as a critical pillar of our growth strategy globally.”