Lineage Logistics

Lineage Logistics is the world's largest temperature-controlled warehouse real estate investment trust (REIT), owned by Bay Grove, LLC. Entering international markets in 2017, Lineage grew into the world's largest refrigerated warehousing company with a capacity exceeding 3 billion cubic feet and acquiring more than 100 companies through the end of 2023. Lineage operates over 450 facilities across 18 countries, with over 26,000 team members globally in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific.

History

The company was founded in April 2012 by former Morgan Stanley investment bankers Kevin Marchetti and Adam Forste, who formed Bay Grove Capital, LLC, through the consolidation of acquired warehousing and logistics companies beginning, in December 2008, with the purchase of Seafreeze from Toyo Susian Kaisha. The company then acquired CityIce, in 2009, and Flint River Services, in 2010, followed, in 2011, by Terminal Freezers of Santa Maria, California, and Richmond Cold Storage, purchased from Atlanta Equity.

Lineage Logistics was formed with the fifth-largest network of temperature-controlled warehouse facilities in North America, according to International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses (IARW) rankings, with 40 facilities in eight states, including near international ports at Savannah, Georgia, Seattle, Washington and Norfolk, Virginia; warehouse management; consulting; and food processing support.

In 2012, the company acquired Stanford Refrigerated Warehouses and Castle & Cooke Cold Storage; Bill Hendricksen of Castle & Cooke then joined Lineage as CEO. Hendricksen was succeeded by W. Gregory Lehmkuhl, in July 2015.William B. Cassidy
"Con-way's Lehmkuhl to join Lineage Logistics as CEO", JOC Group Inc. Jun 18, 2015. Lineage subsequently moved its headquarters from Irvine, California to Novi, Michigan.Annalise Frank
"California-based logistics firm to move to Novi", Crain's Detroit Business, March 23, 2017.

Lineage entered European markets in 2017, acquiring Partner Logistics, a large cold-chain storage supplier. The company then expanded into the temperature-controlled logistics markets in Australia, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka, in November 2019, with the acquisition of Emergent Cold, then into Canada, in July 2020, acquiring Ontario Refrigerated Services Inc.

In 2018, Stonepeak Partners, D1 Capital Partners, and existing backers acquired minority stakes in the company valued at $700 million.

In a March 2021 interview with ''Bloomberg'', Lineage CEO Greg Lehmkuhl said the company is actively preparing its IPO. In May 2021, Lineage acquired Crystal Creek e-commerce fulfillment logistics operator and its five U.S. warehouses, increasing the company's acquisitions to 72.

In July 2021, Lineage partnered with 8VC logistics technology venture capital firm, to further invest in the transportation and logistics technology sector.

As of March 2024, Lineage has been granted over 75 patents registered across multiple jurisdictions, related to technological developments within the temperature-controlled logistics sector.

Operations

In April 2013, the company received a $220 million loan, and acquired Seattle Cold Storage and a University Park, Illinois facility. By 2014, most Lineage customers were food producers requiring cold chain warehousing, transportation, and logistics; to meet demand, the company concentrated on automation and acquisition. In March 2014, the company agreed to purchase Millard Refrigerated Services for about $1 billion, its largest acquisition to date, making Lineage "the second-largest temperature-controlled warehousing and logistics company in the world." In the same year, Lineage acquired Loop Cold Storage, Oneida Cold Storage & Warehouse, Murphy Overseas, and two facilities in Watsonville, California from Dreisbach Enterprises and in September 2014, opened a new temperature-controlled warehouse in Santa Maria, California.

By 2015, Lineage's facility network was ranked the second-largest in the world by the International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses. With 111 facilities in 21 states, Lineage also ranked as the second largest temperature-controlled warehousing and logistics company in the United States. In January 2015, Lineage acquired the Pacific Northwest cold storage facilities of Columbia Colstor, headquartered in Moses Lake, Washington.

In May 2016, the company opened a $150 million temperature-controlled warehouse in North Charleston, South Carolina, near the Port of Charleston, then acquired Consolidated Distribution Corporation of Lombard, Illinois that August, making Lineage the largest customized redistribution network in the United States. Two months later, it was reported that Lineage was considering locating a large facility at New Century AirCenter in Gardner, Kansas, but the proposed location resulted in lawsuits from local residents, and Lineage scrapped the project in November 2017 "due to a change in customer needs", though the project had received unanimous approval from county commissioners in July.

In 2017, Lineage acquired Partner Logistics, a large European cold-chain storage supplier. The company purchased facilities from American Cold Storage, in the Midwest, and eight Los Angeles, California area warehouses from U.S. Growers Cold Storage, raising its employee roster to 7,200, with Lineage operating 120 temperature-controlled storage facilities.Shwanika Narayan. "Big Chunk of Vernon Cold Storage Changes Hands". Los Angeles Business Journal; December 8, 2017
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In April 2018, Lineage began building its first fully automated North American facility in Sunnyvale, Texas and, in May, announced expansion to its Henderson, Colorado facility.

During 2018, the company acquired 24 companies, including The Yearsley Group, the UK's largest Cold Storage and Haulage supplier, maintaining its second-largest status."History", Bay Grove LLC
/ref> The company also sold minority stakes worth $700 million. Company real estate holdings were estimated at $4 billion in value.

On February 25, 2019 ''The Wall Street Journal'' reported the company's acquisition of Preferred Freezer Services LLC., its largest competitor, in a deal reportedly worth over $1 billion, expanding Lineage to the world's largest facility network, with 1.3 billion cubic feet of storage in over 200 facilities across the United States, Europe, and Asia.

On May 22, 2020 Lineage Logistics acquired the distribution assets of one of the largest independent Food Distribution companies in the country for over 100 years, Maines Paper & Food, Inc, based in Conklin, New York. That June, the company acquired Emergent Cold, Australia's largest cold-chain supplier, and New Orleans Cold Storage, with four port facilities in New Orleans