Americold to add Agro Merchants Group in $1.74 billion deal

Oct. 23, 2020

Acquisition of one of world’s largest temp-controlled companies includes 46 facilities, 236 million refrigerated cubic feet

Commercial Vehicle Staff

Americold Realty Trust recently agreed to acquire privately held Agro Merchants Group from an investor group for $1.74 billion.

The acquisition is subject to customary and regulatory closing conditions, Americold said, and closing is expected to occur late in the fourth quarter of 2020, or early in the first quarter of 2021.

The investor group is led by funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management.

Americold bills itself as the world’s largest publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on the ownership, operation, acquisition and development of temperature-controlled warehouses. Agro is the fourth-largest temp-controlled warehouse company globally, the third largest in Europe, and the fourth largest in the United States, and serves more than 2,900 customers across a diverse spectrum of commodities, according to Americold.

Agro’s portfolio consists of 46 facilities, totaling 236 million refrigerated cubic feet, located in 10 countries.

“We are very excited to welcome the Agro team to the Americold family as we expand the scale and enhance the geographic reach of the Americold network,” said Fred Boehler, president and chief executive officer of Americold. “The acquisition of Agro represents a unique opportunity to acquire an institutional-quality global portfolio that facilitates our strategic entry into Europe and adds complementary locations in the U.S., South America and Australia, where Americold is already established.

“This strategic transaction provides exciting long-term growth opportunities through our ability to implement the Americold operating system and commercial business rules across the Agro platform. In addition, we are excited about the external development and M&A opportunities that this acquisition provides.”

Carlos Rodriguez, CEO of Agro Merchants, said he’s proud of the work they’ve done to build Agro into an “industry leader in temperature-controlled logistics.”

“Americold has one of the strongest networks in the world with leading operational capabilities,” he continued. “We are confident that by joining Americold we will accelerate our growth, and by combining our complementary networks, we will be able to provide a more comprehensive range of solutions to customers around the world.”

Americold said it expects the transaction to provide many key benefits, including:

Expands Americold’s strategic footprint into Europe, with established access to the European food logistics network;
Positions Americold to more effectively serve multinational customers on a global scale, adding key European and eastern U.S. port-advantaged locations, and strengthening the company’s existing market position in Australia and South America;
Diversifies the company’s customer base and expands its fresh produce offering and market position, while increasing wallet share with key customers;
Expected to be modestly accretive in 2021 with significant long-term benefits and value creation through the operational integration of an aggregated portfolio by implementing the Americold operating system, commercialization practices, and synergy realization;
Embedded mergers and acquisitions (M&A), expansion and development provide opportunities for future growth, and;
Alignments of interest as Oaktree and Agro management are taking 14.2 million shares in COLD common stock subject to lockup until May 17, 2021.

Upon closing, Americold’s portfolio, including owned and managed sites, will consist of 229 facilities totaling approximately 1.35 billion refrigerated cubic feet, with a global network spanning four continents.