CAMDEN, N.J. — United States Cold Storage (USCS) has sold three public refrigerated warehouses in Medley, Fla.; Marshville, N.C.; and La Vista, Neb., to Vertical Cold Storage, North Sioux City, S.D., and its parent, Platform Ventures, Kansas City, Kan.
Terms of the divestiture were not released. Officials said the deal supports USCS’ strategic shift towards automation, innovation, and logistics services, while Vertical Cold Storage expands in key Midwest and Southeast markets.
“Our goal is to provide a greater level of investment in core market facilities where we can automate, create additional scale, and expand our industry-leading COLDshare Consolidation programs,” said Larry Alderfer, USCS president and CEO. “United States Cold Storage is excited to reinvest all these proceeds and we have recently announced the further expansion of our Tulare, Calif. facility and the purchase of an additional 39 acres in Turlock, Calif, for future expansion. We are also well into planning stages for automated expansions in our Midwest, Northeast and Texas markets.”
Wells Fargo Securities LLC served as Exclusive Financial Advisor to USCS.
“These acquisitions give us a strong foothold in some of the fastest-growing yet underserved regions of the country and support our rapidly expanding protein business, including meat, poultry and seafood,” said Curt Mastbergen, president of Vertical Cold Storage. “As public facilities, we plan to build the customer base at each location by introducing new technology and best practices designed to dramatically improve customer performance. The purchase also complements our greenfield development efforts.”
The purchased facilities are:
- Medley, Fla., near Miami, is 6.7 million cubic feet with 35,153 racked pallet positions and 29 dock doors. It features temperature zones ranging from -10 degrees F to 45 degrees F, import/export and repack services.
- La Vista, Neb., near Omaha, is 3 million cubic feet with 11,267 racked pallet positions and 31 dock doors. It features temperature zones ranging from -10 degrees F to 45 degrees F, import/export and is ASI certified.
- Marshville, N.C., is 2.3 million cubic feet with 8,700 racked pallet positions and 16 dock doors, It features temperature zones ranging from -10 degrees F to 45 degrees F, blast freezing to -30 degrees F, export and is USDA and U.S. Food & Drug Administration certified.
More information about United States Cold Storage is available at www.uscold.com; and for more information about Vertical Cold Storage, visit www.verticalcold.com.
