Novi, Michigan, USA-headquartered Lineage Logistics has finalized the acquisition of Chatham, New Jersey-based Preferred Freezer Services (PFS). While terms of the sale were not made public, the Wall Street Journal reported on February 25 that the price tag topped $1 billion.
The combined company is world’s largest global temperature-controlled facility network for storing various food products including beef, poultry, pork, seafood, baked goods, ice cream, fruits, vegetables, ready meals and other items. It offers clients over 1.3 billion cubic feet (37 million square feet) of space across more than 200 facilities spanning North America, Europe and Asia.
The acquisition of PFS expands Lineage’s number of automated pallet positions to 800,000 at 17 sites, including the two largest automated cold storage warehouses in the world.
“With the integration of Preferred’s exceptional team and its network of state-of-the-art facilities, we are the clear go-to logistics partner for both large and small food producers and retailers worldwide,” said Greg Lehmkuhl, president and chief executive officer of Lineage.
“Since founding Lineage in 2008, we have been focused on strategically growing the business to meet expanding customer needs. The close of this transaction unlocks an entirely new set of opportunities as we look to build upon our industry-leading position with additional capital deployment in technological advancements and new projects,” stated Kevin Marchetti, co-founder and managing partner of Bay Grove Capital, the San Francisco, California-based private equity firm that owns Lineage.
