Lineage Logistics Secures $1.7B in New Equity

The new funding brings total equity raised since January 2020 to $6 billion.

Temperature-controlled industrial REIT Lineage Logistics has raised $1.7 billion in equity from new and existing investors. 

The new capital will strengthen Lineage’s balance sheet and will fuel Lineage’s investments in automation and proprietary software tools that help to improve supply chain efficiencies. It will also be used to fund Lineage’s greenfield developments, facility expansions, and investments in clean energy initiatives.

“As we head into 2022, this new equity gives us even more confidence in our ability to drive future growth opportunities for our business, the industry, and the wider food supply chain,” said Lineage CEO Greg Lehmkuhl in prepared remarks. 

Participating investors include BentallGreenOak, CenterSquare Investment Management, Cohen & Steers, D1 Capital Partners, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, NYSTRS, OP Trust, Oxford Properties, QuadReal Property Group, Rabobank, StepStone and others.

Increasingly, institutional investors have been drawn to what was once a niche market. 

“The heightened demand for space within these industrial sub-sectors has grown significantly because of recent fundamental changes to the supply chain,” Rob Sistek, senior managing director, Investments, for BKM Capital Partners, tells GlobeSt.com.

“COVID 19 accelerated this trend, and institutional capital has identified the investment opportunity supported by this long-term thesis. Additionally, investors clearly recognize the importance of both technology and experienced operators to make prudent investments and to effectively manage the unique qualities of these assets,” he says. 

Lineage Continues Its Growth Track

Lineage has achieved significant growth since its founding in 2008, and the company remains “as committed as ever” to its promise of preserving, protecting, and optimizing the distribution of food, Adam Forste, co-executive chairman of Lineage, said in prepared remarks.

Forste is also co-founder and managing partner at Bay Grove, which founded and manages Lineage Logistics.

“We are excited to have fresh capital from this latest funding to deploy in our business and create new solutions and capacity for our customers, particularly during this time of significant disruption in global supply chains,” Forste said.

The equity raise follows Lineage’s latest funding round of $1.9 billion, announced in March 2021. The latest funding brings the total equity raised since January 2020 to $6 billion.

Morgan Stanley acted as financial advisors, and Latham Watkins served as legal counsel for Lineage.