Lineage, the largest temperature-controlled warehouse real estate investment trust (REIT) in the world, closed up more than 3% in its Nasdaq Stock Market debut on Thursday, after going public under the ticker symbol “LINE.”
Lineage priced 57 million shares at $78 apiece on Wednesday, near the top of its initial $70 to $82 target range. The company raised $4.4 billion at an implied valuation over $18 billion, making it the largest public offering since chip designer Arm‘s $4.8 billion listing last September and more than twice the size of cruise operator Viking Holdings, which went public in May.
Lineage is a four-time CNBC Disruptor 50 company that ranked No. 46 on this year’s list.
One of the biggest factors in the company’s success is its aggressive acquisition strategy.
“We started with one warehouse and we’ve done 116 acquisitions to turn Lineage into what it is today,” co-founder and co-executive chairman Adam Forste said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Thursday morning before shares started trading.
In the last year alone, Lineage has acquired Grupo Fuentes, Burris Logistics, Kennedy Transportation and Harnes. The Burris acquisition alone gave Lineage eight new facilities.
“So many families who we’ve bought companies from rolled equity into Lineage as part of their transaction, so they’re celebrating here today with us as well,” Forste said, adding that the company’s namesake is derived from the network, or lineage, of family-owned warehouses that he and co-founder Kevin Marchetti have brought into the fold.
Lineage has amassed over 480 facilities, totaling roughly 2.9 billion cubic feet of capacity across countries in North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region. These locations create a global network of cold-storage facilities, reducing supply chain food waste and its environmental impact.
Food loss happens at every level of the supply chain, with an estimated $600 billion worth of food going to waste during or just after harvest. That ever-growing amount of waste currently accounts for about 11% of the world’s emissions – making it one of the biggest environmental issues contributing to climate change.
Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, J.P. Morgan and Wells Fargo were the lead underwriters for Lineage’s offering.
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