Logistics News

Doboy Cold Stores to join Americold after Agro takeover

Queensland cold storage firm one element of a $2.43 billion acquisition

 

Brisbane’s Doboy Cold Stores will become American giant Americold’s newest Australian asset after the latter purchased the former’s parent firm, Agro Merchants Group.

The acquisition of Agro from Oaktree Capital Management is worth about US$1.74 billion (A$2.43 billion) and is expected to be finalised late 2020 or early 2021, subject to regulatory reviews.

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

Agro’s portfolio consists of 46 facilities in 10 countries, including Doboy’s two facilities near the Port of Brisbane, which Agro acquired in 2016.


The cold storage market has been ripe with acquisitions recently


Doboy was established in 1979 and lists its expertise as including warehousing, import/export, supply chain management, inventory management, distribution and logistics.

Americold mentions the Australian consolidation aspect to this acquisition in a statement.

“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,” Americold CEO Fred Boehler says.

“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.

“This strategic transaction provides exciting long-term growth opportunities through our ability to implement the Americold Operating System and commercial business rules across the Agro platform.

“In addition, we are excited about the external development and M&A opportunities that this acquisition provides.”

Agro CEO Carlos Rodriguez echoes the sentiment.

“I am extremely proud of the work we have done to build Agro into a true industry leader in temperature-controlled logistics with a global portfolio,” Rodriguez says.

“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.”

 

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