Americold Realty Trust entered an agreement with activist shareholder Ancora Group Holdings to help reduce its debt and explore potential asset sales.
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The Atlanta-based temperature-controlled warehouse owner appointed two new members to its board and formed a finance committee within the board to support efforts to enhance shareholder value, Americold announced Monday.
The move comes after Ancora this month disclosed a stake in Americold and pushed for the REIT to review strategic alternatives, including selling itself or noncore geographies to zero in on North America and pay down debt, Seeking Alpha reported.
Americold, which has more than 230 facilities across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and South America, went public in 2018 and raised $725M. Shares of Americold dropped 47% this year, and Ancora Alternatives President Jim Chadwick said the REIT could look to reduce its operating expenses and improve margins.
Pursuant to a cooperation agreement with Ancora, Americold’s new board members include Joseph Reece, managing partner of SilverBox Capital, and Stephen Sleigh, senior adviser at Blue Wolf Capital Partners.
“We are pleased to welcome Joe and Steve to the Board as new independent directors, enabling us to benefit from fresh perspectives and key skillsets as we continue executing on our strategic priorities,” Americold board Chair Mark Patterson said in the press release.
The finance committee will be made up of existing and new board members. The committee will review Americold’s portfolio by region, market and submarket to make recommendations about prospective sales or divestitures, including potential international divestitures.
It will also focus on other opportunities to further reduce debt and preserve core assets.
Michigan-based REIT Lineage Inc., Americold’s top competitor in cold storage logistics, raised $4.4B and went public last year.
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