Americold Realty Trust, which owns, operates and develops temperature-controlled warehouses, recently acquired privately held Lanier Cold Storage for $82 million.
The purchase follows two other recent developments. Americold also agreed to acquire Chiller Holdco from Cloverleaf management and announced plans to expand and redevelop its Atlanta GA campus last month.
Lanier Cold Storage consists of two temperature-controlled storage facilities, which total more than 14 million cubic feet of refrigerated space and approximately 51,000 pallet positions, the company said. The facilities, located in Gainesville GA and Lula GA, are served by major highways and railways, and designed to supply poultry and other products to markets across the US.
The acquisition will complement Americold’s existing 3.8 million-cubic-foot refrigerated facility in Gainesville, which is considered by many to be the “poultry capital of the world,” Americold said. The poultry industry contributes more than $18.4 billion to the Georgia economy each year, according to GeorgiaInfo.
“We welcome Lanier Cold Storage and its associates to the Americold family,” said Fred Boehler, president and chief executive officer of Americold Realty.
“We admire and respect the business that Lanier’s owners—Larry Glover and Preston Bowen—have built and appreciate their great reputation in the poultry industry. We intend to enhance Lanier’s business model by leveraging Americold’s commercial platform and the Americold operating system.”
The returns for the acquisition are consistent with the company’s stated return expectations for such projects upon integration, Americold said.
“When Larry and I founded Lanier Cold Storage in 2000, our vision was to create a company that offered cold storage solutions by emphasizing operational excellence and unwavering customer service,” said Preston Bowen, Lanier Cold Storage’s owner and CEO. “We are thrilled to partner with Americold and believe that this transaction will provide enhanced opportunities for both our customers as well as our Lanier Cold Storage Associates.”
