FORT SMITH (KFSM) — Americold Realty Trust announced Tuesday (April 16) that they have acquired Cloverleaf Cold Storage, a company merging with Zero Mountain Cold Storage.
Americold purchased Cloverleaf for $1.24 billion and is expected to finalize the deal in the second quarter of 2019, according to a press release.
In January of this year, Iowa-based Cloverleaf announced they would be merging with Zero Mountain. Zero Mountain employs 427 people and operates five facilities in Arkansas including Fort Smith, Johnson, Little Rock, Lowell and Russellville, our partners at Talk Business & Politics (TB&P) reports.
Bill Feiges, Co-CEO of Cloverleaf, told TB&P, “The Cloverleaf team has long admired Zero Mountain, which has been built over generations by the Rumsey family upon business values similar to our own. Zero Mountain is highly respected in the cold storage industry, and the Rumsey family is known for its longstanding relationships and dedication to customer service. Its geographic footprint is a strong complement to that of Cloverleaf, and we believe that this combination will create significant value for our customers.”
Zero Mountain Board Chair Mark Rumsey says the merger with Cloverleaf will help them create a larger footprint within the industry, and benefit the company’s customers by allowing improved supply chain seasonal needs.
President and Chief Executive Officer of Americold said, “We welcome Cloverleaf to the Americold family. We have long admired Cloverleaf, the families that founded them and the associates that helped earn them a great reputation in our industry. We have a similar degree of respect for Zero Mountain, which was recently acquired by Cloverleaf. We will accelerate and enhance Cloverleaf’s recently implemented initiatives by leveraging Americold’s commercial platform, institutional quality management and the Americold Operating System (AOS), in a press release.
“This acquisition enhances the Company’s position as the leading global owner and operator of temperature-controlled infrastructure while expanding relationships with existing high quality customers. Upon closing, Americold’s portfolio will consist of over one billion refrigerated cubic feet, which provides the Company with greater density and diversification to better service its customers.”
It’s still unclear how the acquisition of Cloverleaf by Americold will impact daily operations at Zero Mountain.
