Cold Storage Heavy Hitter Lineage Logistics Closes $1.9B Equity Raise
The REIT also inked its first $2.8 billion revolving credit facility and sustainability-linked loan.
Major cold storage player Lineage Logistics has closed a $1.9 billion equity raise—the largest in the REIT’s history—from investors including BentallGreenOak, D1 Capital Partners, Oxford Properties, CenterSquare Investment Management, MS Tactical Value and Conversant Capital, OP Trust, and Cohen & Steers.
A significant portion of the $1.9 billion in new capital will be used “to double down on new and disruptive technologies to design the temperature-controlled warehouse of the future,” the company said in a statement. Lineage is developing algorithmic programming and automation software to streamline operations within its warehouses, and earlier this year announced the launch of Lineage Link, an integrated customer experience platform that allows collaboration across customers’ supply chains.
In addition, Lineage inked its first $2.8 billion revolving credit facility and sustainability-linked loan with three ESG initiatives.
“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.
The equity will also be deployed to fund greenfield development and facility expansion projects in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific regions. Lineage’s recently-completed or under-construction projects in the US include sites in Charleston; New Orleans; Sioux Falls; Stevens Point, Wisconsin; Portsmouth, Virginia; and Logan Township, New Jersey.
Lineage is the largest network of cold storage warehouses globally, with more than 340 facilities across 15 countries. In 2020, it dramatically increased its European portfolio and acquired a dozen best-in-class cold chain companies globally. Overall in 2020, the company completed 38 acquisitions and 128 facilities in 11 countries, and became the first temperature-controlled warehousing provider to offer refrigerated and insulated railcar solutions through the acquisition of Cryo-Trans.