Kirkland Advises Americold on Joint Venture with EQT

Kirkland & Ellis advised Americold Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: COLD), a global leader in temperature-controlled logistics, on the formation of a new joint venture with EQT’s Active Core Infrastructure fund, which is focused on the ownership, operation and potential development of high-quality cold storage warehouse facilities in North America. Under the terms of the agreement, Americold will contribute 12 cold storage facilities to the joint venture with an aggregate value in excess of $1.3 billion at inception. On a standalone basis, this joint venture is expected to be among the largest operators of cold storage facilities in North America. EQT will acquire a 70% interest in the joint venture, and Americold will retain a 30% equity interest and serve as day-to-day manager of the platform to ensure continuity of service and Americold’s proven operational excellence for customers. Americold expects to receive approximately $1.1 billion in net cash proceeds from the transaction, which is expected to be used to repay outstanding debt.

Read the transaction press release

The Kirkland team include real estate lawyers Chris Hartmann, Ari Stavsky and Sam Zaretsky; capital markets lawyers Christian Nagler and Sarah Lipinski; corporate lawyer Abhishek Kolay; and tax lawyers Mike Beinus and Justin Barbosa.