Lineage Logistics reports it has raised $1.9 billion in equity from new and existing partners.
Participating investors include BentallGreenOak, D1 Capital Partners, Oxford Properties, CenterSquare Investment Management, MS Tactical Value and Conversant Capital, OP Trust, and Cohen & Steers, among others.
“We set out to raise capital to support Lineage’s 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 CEO of Lineage.
“This is clear validation of our business model and our consistent, successful strategy to optimize our customers’ temperature-controlled supply chains, which is exactly how we intend to deploy the funds—to bolster our customers’ experiences from every angle and prove ourselves as their most valuable partner.”
In addition to this latest equity raise—which is the company’s largest since its founding in 2008 and follows September’s $1.6 billion raise—Lineage says it also transformed its capital structure with a new $2.8 billion Revolving Credit Facility and Term Loan A. The new facility aligns closely with traditional REIT financings, has investment-grade pricing, and becomes unsecured upon compliance with investment-grade covenants.
Additionally, the new facility enables Lineage’s growth worldwide by offering multicurrency lending across Lineage’s numerous jurisdictions. This transaction represents Lineage’s first sustainability-linked loan with three Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives.
As Lineage continues to fulfill its purpose of transforming the food supply chain to eliminate waste and help feed the world, a significant portion of the $1.9 billion of new capital will be used to double down on new and disruptive technologies to design the temperature-controlled warehouse of the future. Tapping its team of data scientists and technologists, the company is developing widespread algorithmic programming and automation software to streamline its operations and optimize every movement within its warehouses.
Lineage, 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 that provides visibility and collaboration across its customers’ supply chains.
Additionally, the new equity will be deployed, in part, to fund greenfield development and facility expansion projects in its North American, European and Asian-Pacific operating regions. Focusing on customer need and opportunity, Lineage recently completed or has pending construction in the following markets:
In the U.S.:
- Charleston SC
- Logan Township NJ
- New Orleans LA
- Portsmouth VA
- Sioux Falls SD
- Stevens Point WI
International:
- Aarhus (Denmark)
- Gdansk (Poland)
- Hanoi (Vietnam)
- Heywood (United Kingdom)
- Peterborough (United Kingdom)
- Tauranga (New Zealand)
“I am proud to say that the company we have been building has made an incredible and transformative impact on our customers, our team members, our communities and the broader temperature-controlled industry,” said Adam Forste, co-executive chairman of Lineage, and co-founder and senior managing partner at Bay Grove, which founded and manages Lineage. “This additional equity from some of the best regarded names in the investment world positions Lineage for continued and meaningful growth.”
In addition to growth via greenfield development and facility expansion projects, Lineage continues its history of acquiring cold chain companies around the world. The company previously announced a dozen international acquisitions and is proud to also welcome a group of well-respected organizations to strengthen its domestic operations, including:
- Dick Cold Storage, including three locations in the Greater Columbus OH area
- A new strategic warehouse in Lyndhurst VA
- Great Lakes Cold Storage, including two locations in Solon OH and Cranberry Township, PA
- Win Chill Cold Storage, including one location in Sioux Falls SD
- Joliet Cold Storage, including locations in Bolingbrook IL and Joliet IL
A number of the former owners from these companies, in addition to those already announced, chose to become investors in Lineage, rolling a part of their companies’ sale proceeds into Lineage equity.
Lineage represents the largest network of temperature-controlled warehouses 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, Lineage completed 38 acquisitions that added 128 facilities in 11 countries, bringing more than 5,000 new employees into the organization. Also in 2020, Lineage became the first temperature-controlled warehousing provider to offer refrigerated and insulated railcar solutions through the acquisition of Cryo-Trans.
In connection with the equity raise, the company also announced a new board member, BentallGreenOak senior managing partner and co-founder John Carrafiell, who brings 33 years of real estate and capital markets experience. With $53 billion in Assets Under Management (AUM), BentallGreenOak is a global real estate investment manager and advisor.
“In recognizing Lineage’s exciting and industry-leading runway for innovation as well as its tremendous pipeline of growth opportunities, BentallGreenOak is thrilled with the most recent raise to become one of the Company’s largest investors,” Carrafiell said.
