Americold to Buy Agro Merchants to Expand European Operations

Consolidation in the cold storage industry continues with US temperature-controlled warehouse giant Americold announcing it will acquire the Agro Merchants group for $1.74bn.

Agro is the fourth largest temperature-controlled warehouse company globally, the third largest in Europe, and the fourth largest in the United States, and serves over 2,900 customers across a diverse spectrum of commodities.

Agro’s operates 46 sites, with 236m cubic feet of refrigerated space, in 10 countries and will be a strong complement to Americold’s existing global network, said Americold.

Americold expects the acquisition to expand its footprint into Europe, with established access to the European food logistics network. Agro Merchants acquired Whitchurch-based Grocontinental in December 2017.

When the deal is complete, Americold’s portfolio will consist of 229 sites totalling approximately 1.35 billion refrigerated cubic feet, with a global network spanning four continents.

“We are very excited to welcome the Agro team to the Americold family as we expand the scale and enhance the geographic reach of the Americold network. The acquisition of Agro represents a unique opportunity to acquire an institutional-quality global portfolio that facilitates our strategic entry into Europe and adds complementary locations in the US, South America and Australia, where Americold is already established,” said Fred Boehler, president and chief executive of Americold.

“We are extremely proud of the work we have done to build Agro into a true industry leader in temperature-controlled logistics with a global portfolio,” said Carlos Rodriguez, chief executive of Agro Merchants.

“Americold has one of the strongest networks in the world with leading operational capabilities. We are confident that by joining Americold, we will accelerate our growth and by combining our complementary networks, we will be able to provide a more comprehensive range of solutions to customers around the world.”

The deal is expected to be finalised late in the fourth quarter of 2020 or early in the first quarter of 2021.

Source: https://www.globalcoldchainnews.com/americold-buys-agro-merchants-to-expand-european-operations/