After growing through acquisition over the past several years, Vancouver-based cold-storage juggernaut Versacold International is returning to its roots by selling off its non-Canadian assets for US$975 million.
On Wednesday Versacold announced it sold Americold Realty Trust its portfolio of global cold storage facilities, including 54 facilities in the U.S., nine in Australia, nine in New Zealand and two in Argentina.
That leaves Versacold with 41 facilities across Canada consisting of 120 million cubic feet of storage capacity and a comprehensive transportation network.
As part of the transaction, Versacold’s CEO Brent Sugden will leave the company and become president of operations for Americold. Joel Smith, Versacold’s CFO, will become CEO.
“We are excited to refocus on our Canadian roots and the bright future that lies before us,” said Smith. “Versacold will be well capitalized and will continue to provide top service and look for new opportunities to grow our business.”
The sale dramatically increases Americold’s global footprint by 68%, increasing the number of cold storage facilities to 182 from 108.
Ron Burkle, chair of Americold and managing partner of private equity firm the Yucaipa Companies, said the acquisition “caps two years of intensive work by the Yucaipa Companies to merge Versacold and Americold to create a global leader in the industry.”
The move also keeps Yucaipa’s promise to keep Versacold and Americold separate companies, even though they are both owned by Yucaipa. (See “Cold-storage juggernaut hot on the acquisition trail” – issue 1028; July 7-13, 2009.)
Versacold was sold to the Yucaipa Companies last year after a deal was finalized with Iceland’s HP Eimskipafelag Islands (Eimskip), which purchased Versacold in 2007. While Versacold remained a profitable company, Eimskip was forced to sell after going bankrupt because of bad investments and severe debt issues following the global financial crisis.
Versacold, founded in Vancouver in 1946, has grown to become one of B.C.’s largest private companies and one of the fastest growing with revenues increasing 527% over the past five years to $1.3 billion from $210.3 million in 2005. Much of that growth has been through a series of acquisitions including the purchase of P&O Logistics in 2005 and the merger with Atlas Cold Storage in 2007.
Business in Vancouver last caught up with Versacold in a Q&A with Brent Sugden in June. (See “Refrigeration magnate stays out in the cold” – issue 1077; June 15-21.)