Americold Announces Purchase of Facility in Houston, Texas to Accommodate Customer Growth

ATLANTA, March 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Americold Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:COLD) (the "Company"), a global leader in temperature-controlled logistics, real estate, and value-added services focused on the ownership, operation, acquisition and development of temperature-controlled warehouses, announced today it has signed an agreement to acquire a facility in Houston, Texas for a total investment of approximately $127 million including planned expansion and equipment upgrades. The acquisition will add roughly 35,700 pallet positions to Americold's cold storage warehouse portfolio.

"The catalyst for this acquisition was the award of a large grocery retail contract with one of the world's largest retailers. The new business represents a significant win in our $200M sales initiative. This is a compelling example of Americold's strategy to expand its market-leading presence in the high-turn, retail segment of the cold storage supply chain." said George Chappelle, Chief Executive Officer at Americold. Mr. Chappelle also added, "This acquisition also furthers our strategy to purchase assets in key markets to support customer growth and deliver the world-class service that customers have come to expect from Americold."

Rob Chambers, President – Americas, added "We have a strong existing presence in the Houston area and were recently awarded a large new fixed-commitment contract with a prominent retail customer. By acquiring this facility, we are able to efficiently reposition existing customers' inventory and accommodate this attractive new growth opportunity in the fast-turning retail segment where we already enjoy the highest market share in the cold storage industry. Further, the incremental investment we are making into this facility will allow it to service the mix of Americold's customers in this market. Customers continue to recognize Americold for our commitment to customer service and operational excellence, and our new business pipeline remains robust. Today's announcement underscores Americold's commitment to capturing disciplined and profitable growth opportunities that create long-term value for our shareholders."

The acquired facility was constructed in 2022, has 10.7 million cubic feet, and is located in the Cedar Port Industrial Park in Baytown, Texas. The acquisition includes approximately 16 acres of adjacent land that could be used for future expansion projects.

The Company anticipates the return on this acquisition will be consistent with the stated return expectations for similar acquisitions in the past.

About the Company

Americold is a global leader in temperature-controlled logistics real estate and value-added services. Focused on the ownership, operation, acquisition and development of temperature-controlled warehouses, Americold owns and/or operates 239 temperature-controlled warehouses, with approximately 1.4 billion refrigerated cubic feet of storage, in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and South America. Americold's facilities are an integral component of the supply chain connecting food producers, processors, distributors and retailers to consumers.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements about future events and expectations that constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on our beliefs, assumptions and expectations of our future financial and operating performance and growth plans, taking into account the information currently available to us. These statements are not statements of historical fact. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results to differ materially from the expectations of future results we express or imply in any forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on such statements. Factors that could contribute to these differences include the following: rising inflationary pressures, increased interest rates and operating costs; labor and power costs; labor shortages; our relationship with our associates, the occurrence of any work stoppages or any disputes under our collective bargaining agreements and employment related litigation; the impact of supply chain disruptions; risks related to rising construction costs; risks related to expansions of existing properties and developments of new properties, including failure to meet budgeted or stabilized returns within expected time frames, or at all, in respect thereof; uncertainty of revenues, given the nature of our customer contracts; acquisition risks, including the failure to identify or complete attractive acquisitions or failure to realize the intended benefits from our recent acquisitions; difficulties in expanding our operations into new markets; uncertainties and risks related to public health crises; a failure of our information technology systems, systems conversions and integrations, cybersecurity attacks or a breach of our information security systems, networks or processes; risks related to implementation of the new ERP system, defaults or non-renewals of significant customer contracts; risks related to privacy and data security concerns, and data collection and transfer restrictions and related foreign regulations; changes in applicable governmental regulations and tax legislation; risks related to current and potential international operations and properties; actions by our competitors and their increasing ability to compete with us; changes in foreign currency exchange rates; the potential liabilities, costs and regulatory impacts associated with our in-house trucking services and the potential disruptions associated with our use of third-party trucking service providers for transportation services to our customers; liabilities as a result of our participation in multi-employer pension plans; risks related to the partial ownership of properties, including our JV investments; risks related to natural disasters; adverse economic or real estate developments in our geographic markets or the temperature-controlled warehouse industry; changes in real estate and zoning laws and increases in real property tax rates; general economic conditions; risks associated with the ownership of real estate generally and temperature-controlled warehouses in particular; possible environmental liabilities; uninsured losses or losses in excess of our insurance coverage; financial market fluctuations; our failure to obtain necessary outside financing on attractive terms, or at all; risks related to, or restrictions contained in, our debt financings; decreased storage rates or increased vacancy rates; the potential dilutive effect of our common stock offerings, including our ongoing at the market program; the cost and time requirements as a result of our operation as a publicly traded REIT; and our failure to maintain our status as a REIT.

Words such as "anticipates," "believes," "continues," "estimates," "expects," "goal," "objectives," "intends," "may," "opportunity," "plans," "potential," "near-term," "long-term," "projections," "assumptions," "projects," "guidance," "forecasts," "outlook," "target," "trends," "should," "could," "would," "will" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements may contain such words. Examples of forward-looking statements included in this press release include but are not limited to those regarding future intended use of the acquired property; the anticipated benefits of the transaction, including any anticipated return on investment; expected synergies resulting from the transaction; the expected timing to close the transaction; the likelihood and ability of the parties to successfully consummate the transaction and our plans for future growth and development. We qualify any forward-looking statements entirely by these cautionary factors. Other risks, uncertainties and factors, including those discussed under "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, could cause our actual results to differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements we make. We assume no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future except to the extent required by law.

Contacts:

Americold Realty Trust, Inc.

Investor Relations

Email: [email protected]