Lineage Logistics has raised $1.9 billion to fund global development projects and executive plans including the expansion of refrigerated warehouses, technology innovations, mergers and acquisitions. Among participating private equity investors are BentallGreenOak, D1 Capital Partners, Oxford Properties, CenterSquare Investment Management, MS Tactical Value and Conversant Capital, OP Trust and Cohen & Steers.
Lineage ranks as the largest network of cold storage operator globally, with more than 340 strategically located facilities offering over 2.1 billion cubic feet of capacity and spanning 15 countries across North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and South America. During 2020, it completed 38 acquisitions which added 128 warehouses in 11 countries to its roster, bringing over 5,000 new employees into the organization. Also in 2020, it became the first temperature-controlled warehousing provider to provide refrigerated and insulated railcar solutions through the acquisition of Cryo-Trans.
“We set out to raise capital to support investments in the world’s most state-of-the-art technology and automation, greenfield developments, facility expansions, and continued acquisitions, and we were met with overwhelming demand from some of the most well-respected global institutional investors,” said Greg Lehmkuhl, president and chief executive officer of Novi, Michigan, USA-headquartered Lineage. “This is clear validation of our business model and our consistent, successful strategy to optimize customers’ temperature-controlled supply chains, which is exactly how we intend to deploy the funds.”
In addition to this latest cash infusion, which is the company’s largest since its founding in 2008 and follows the raising of $1.6 billion last September, Lineage has transformed its capital structure with a new $2.8 billion Revolving Credit Facility and Term Loan A. This facility aligns closely with traditional REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) financings, has investment-grade pricing, and becomes unsecured upon compliance with investment-grade covenants. Additionally, it enables the company’s growth worldwide by offering multi-currency lending across numerous jurisdictions.
A significant portion of the $1.9 billion of new capital will be used to double down on technologies to design the temperature-controlled warehouse of the future. Lineage is developing widespread algorithmic programming and automation software to streamline its operations and optimize movements within its warehouses.
The company, which has 13 patents and a track record of technological innovations, also announced earlier this year the launch of Lineage Link, a fully integrated customer experience platform which provides an extraordinarily high level of visibility and collaboration across customer supply chains.
Additionally, Lineage will deploy part of the newly raised equity to fund greenfield development and facility expansion projects in North American, European and Asian-Pacific operating regions. Focusing on customer need and opportunity, it has recently completed or has pending construction at six locations in the USA, as well as at two sites in the United Kingdom, and one each in Denmark, Poland, Vietnam and New Zealand.
In connection with the equity raise, the company also announced a new board member, BentallGreenOak (BGO) Senior Managing Partner and Co-Founder, John Carrafiell, who brings with him 33-years of real estate and capital markets experience. With $53 billion in assets under management, BGO is a leading global real estate investment manager, advisor, and provider of real estate services.
