Americold Realty Trust announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held Chiller Holdco, LLC (“Cloverleaf Cold Storage” or “Cloverleaf”) from Cloverleaf management and an investor group led by private equity funds managed by Blackstone for a purchase price of $1.24 billion.

The closing of the acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to occur in the second quarter of 2019.

Founded in 1952 and based in Sioux City, Iowa , Cloverleaf is the fifth largest cold storage provider in the United States by refrigerated cubic feet and serves over 360 customers. The portfolio to be acquired consists of 22 facilities, of which 21 are owned and one is managed, totaling 132 million refrigerated cubic feet. Cloverleaf’s assets are located in nine states in the Central and Southeastern United States , which are complementary to Americold’s existing geographic reach and expands the Company’s focus in the growing protein business segment.

This acquisition enhances the Company’s position as the leading global owner and operator of temperature-controlled infrastructure while expanding relationships with existing high quality customers. Upon closing, Americold’s portfolio will consist of over one billion refrigerated cubic feet, which provides the Company with greater density and diversification to better service its customers.

SEE ALSO : Carter Validus Mission Critical REIT to merge with CVMC REIT II

“We welcome Cloverleaf to the Americold family. We have long admired Cloverleaf, the families that founded them and the associates that helped earn them a great reputation in our industry. We have a similar degree of respect forZero Mountain , which was recently acquired by Cloverleaf. We will accelerate and enhance Cloverleaf’s recently implemented initiatives by leveraging Americold’s commercial platform, institutional quality management and the Americold Operating System (AOS),” said Fred Boehler , President and Chief Executive Officer of Americold Realty Trust .

BofA Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC are acting as exclusive financial advisors to Americold. King & Spalding LLP is acting as legal advisor to Americold.

Wells Fargo Securities and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. are acting as exclusive financial advisors to Cloverleaf andBlackstone . Kirkland & Ellis LLP is acting as legal advisor to Cloverleaf and Blackstone .

View source version on https://ir.americold.com/news/default.aspx