Cold chain newcomer Vertical Cold Storage adds three more DCs

Temperature-controlled distribution center newcomer Vertical Cold Storage will continue to expand its network by acquiring three more refrigerated warehouses, the venture-backed firm said Monday.

South Dakota-based Vertical Cold Storage, which is funded by the Kansas City-based real estate investment firm Platform Ventures, acquired the units from United States Cold Storage. Based in Camden, New Jersey, US Cold Storage is North America’s third-largest provider of public refrigerated warehousing (PRW) logistics services, with 40 facilities in 13 states.

In comparison, two-year-old Vertical Cold is a much smaller company that runs just five facilities, following its January acquisition of a warehouse in Texas to follow its original site in Chicago.

Officials at the two companies said the deal supports Vertical Cold Storage’s expansion in the Midwest and Southeast markets, while US Cold Service follows a strategic shift towards automation, innovation, and logistics services.

Terms of the transaction were not released, but the three sites in the deal are:

• a Medley, Florida facility with 6.7 million cubic feet and 29 dock doors
• a La Vista, Nebraska facility with 3 million cubic feet and 31 dock doors, and
• a Marshville, North Carolina facility with 2.3 million cubic feet and 16 dock doors.

“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,” Curt Mastbergen, president of Vertical Cold Storage, said in a release. “As public facilities, we plan to build the customer base at each location by introducing new technology, automation and best practices designed to dramatically improve customer performance. The purchase also complements our greenfield development efforts.”

Meanwhile, US Cold Storage intends to invest the new funds in to expand scale and automation, company president & CEO Larry Alderfer said in a release. “United States Cold Storage is excited to reinvest all these proceeds and we have recently announced the further expansion of our Tulare, CA, facility and the purchase of an additional 39 acres in Turlock, CA, for future expansion,” Alderfer said. “We are also well into planning stages for automated expansions in our Midwest, Northeast and Texas markets.”