Sieve Capital Announces Campaign for Boardroom Change at Americold Realty Trust
- Calls on Americold's Board to Strip Mark Patterson (Also a Director of Digital Realty Trust (NYSE: DLR)) of His Chairman Role and Not Nominate Him for Re-Election at 2026 Annual Meeting
- Urges Board to Announce a Review of All Strategic Alternatives, Including a Full Sale, Following Recent Reports of Inbound Interest
- Sees Significant Upside Opportunity via a Sale, Which Would De-Risk Shareholders Following Sustained Underperformance and Deliver a Sizable Premium to Present Trading Prices
Sieve Capital LLC (collectively with its affiliates, "Sieve" or "we"), a shareholder of Americold Realty Trust, Inc. ("Americold" or the "Company"), today announced that it is reluctantly initiating a public campaign focused on Chairman Mark Patterson and his boardroom allies. Last week, in a private letter that the Board of Directors (the "Board")1 has not acknowledged, Sieve detailed its serious concerns pertaining to Mr. Patterson's documented history of apparently problematic boardroom behavior and poor strategic decisions at Paramount Group2, Digital Realty3 and Americold4. In the correspondence, Sieve specifically asked the Board to strip Mr. Patterson of his Chairman position and not nominate him for re-election at Americold's upcoming Annual Meeting of Shareholders (the "Annual Meeting").
If shareholders take the time to review publicly available information pertaining to Mr. Patterson's history as a fiduciary, we believe they will conclude there is no basis or justification for him remaining involved with Americold. We are particularly concerned with allegations pertaining to Mr. Patterson's tenure at Paramount Group, where he once received less than a majority of votes cast by shareholders at an annual meeting before being unilaterally re-added to the board of directors by seemingly friendly leadership.5 In addition, according to public reports, the Securities and Exchange Commission is currently investigating financial dealings between Mr. Patterson and his reported ally and former Paramount Group CEO, Albert Behler.6 Given that Americold's Board currently includes other Patterson allies, including Digital Realty CEO Andy Power, we are concerned that Mr. Patterson has imported poor governance practices into the Company's boardroom. It is equally important to stress that Americold has already suffered unacceptable total shareholder returns of approximately -50% during Mr. Patterson's chairmanship.
Additionally, Sieve announced today that it is calling on the Board to pivot from assessing "[p]otential asset sales and joint ventures" to reviewing all strategic alternatives. In our view, Mr. Patterson has driven the Board to focus on short-sighted transactions that would entrench him and his allies. However, we believe sophisticated shareholders should be well aware that joint ventures are double-edged swords that can drain companies of cash flow and limit their long-term optionality. Based on public reports about parties wanting to acquire all of Americold or the entirety of the Company's international operations7,8, we do not understand how a majority of the Board could oppose publicly announcing a comprehensive review of all strategic alternatives.
Sieve is prepared to share more detail regarding Americold's Board members, governance history, and past strategic decisions to ensure that shareholders have all necessary information.
About Us
Sieve Capital is a private investment firm that pursues opportunities across public and private markets through fundamental research. Contact us at www.sievecap.com.
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1 In addition to Mr. Patterson, the Board includes, George J. Alburger Jr., Kelly H. Barrett, Rob Bass, Rob Chambers, Antonio F. Fernandez, Pamela Kohn, David J. Neithercut, Andrew P. Power (who is Mr. Patterson's colleague at Digital Realty), Joseph Reece and Stephen Sleigh. |
2 The Real Deal, "Questions about Paramount Group extend to CEO's dealings with board member," dated September 15, 2025 (link). |
3 Dgtl Infra, "Digital Realty's Ex-Chairman Raises Alarming Governance Issues," dated June 7, 2023 (link). |
4 Freight Waves, "Activist investor pushes Americold to revamp strategy," dated December 23, 2025 (link). |
5 Company filings disclosing that "Mr. Patterson received less than a majority of the votes cast in connection with his election to the Board and in accordance with the Company's Corporate Governance Guidelines, Mr. Patterson offered to tender his resignation as a director of the Company on May 13, 2021." |
6 The Real Deal, "Questions about Paramount Group extend to CEO's dealings with board member," dated September 15, 2025 (link). |
7 Semafor, "Cold-storage giant Americold fields private equity interest," dated December 29, 2025 (link). |
8 Yahoo! Finance, "Americold (COLD) Jumps 5% on Acquisition Offer Buzz," dated December 31, 2025 (link). |
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260330654586/en/
Gavin Richey
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