Lineage, the world’s largest temperature-controlled real estate investment trust (REIT), rose as much as 5% in its Nasdaq Stock Market debut Thursday after going public under the ticker symbol “LINE.”
Lineage traded 57 million shares for $78 a share Wednesday, near the top of its $70 to $82 target range. The company raised $4.4 billion at an implied valuation of more than $18 billion, making it the largest public offering since the 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 ranked number 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 completed 116 acquisitions to transform Lineage into what it is today,” co-founder and co-executive chairman Adam Forste said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday morning before the shares began trading.
In the past year, Lineage acquired Grupo Fuentes, Burris Logistics, Kennedy Transportation and Harnes. The Burris acquisition alone gives Lineage eight new facilities.
“Many of the families we bought the company from equity rolled into Lineage as part of the transaction, so they’re also celebrating here with us,” Forste said, adding that the company’s name comes from the network, or lineage. , of the family-owned warehouses which he and co-founder Kevin Marchetti have brought to participate.
Lineage has accumulated more than 480 facilities, with a total capacity of 2.9 billion cubic feet in 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 environmental impact.
Food loss occurs at every level of the supply chain, with an estimated $600 billion of food lost during or after harvest. The growing amount of waste now accounts for about 11% of world emissions – making it one of the biggest environmental problems driving climate change.
Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, JP Morgan and Wells Fargo are the lead underwriters for the Lineage offering.
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