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Americold Realty Trust Announces Closing of Public Offering of Common Shares and Exercise of Underwriters’ Option to Purchase Additional Common Shares

Americold Realty Trust (the “Company” or “Americold”) (NYSE:COLD) announced today the closing of its underwritten registered public offering of 50,312,500 common shares (including 6,562,500 common shares sold pursuant to the exercise in full of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional common shares) at a public offering price of $29.75 per share. Americold issued and sold 42,062,500 common shares directly to the underwriters at closing, and the underwriters purchased 8,250,000 common shares related to the forward sale agreement described below.

BofA Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan and RBC Capital Markets acted as the joint book-running managers for the offering. BB&T Capital Markets, BTIG, Citizens Capital Markets, Rabo Securities, Raymond James, Regions Securities LLC, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and Baird acted as the co-managers for the offering.

Americold entered into a forward sale agreement with Bank of America, N.A. (the “forward purchaser”) with respect to 8,250,000 common shares. In connection with the forward sale agreement, the forward purchaser or its affiliate borrowed and sold to the underwriters an aggregate of 8,250,000 common shares that were delivered in the offering.

Subject to its right to elect cash or net share settlement subject to certain conditions, the Company intends to deliver, upon full physical settlement of such forward sale agreement on one or more dates specified by the Company occurring no later than approximately 12 months following the completion of the offering, an aggregate of 8,250,000 common shares to the forward purchaser in exchange for cash proceeds per share equal to the applicable forward sale price, which is the public offering price less the underwriting discount, subject to certain adjustments as provided in the forward sale agreement.

The Company received proceeds from its direct sale of 42,062,500 common shares in the offering, but it did not initially receive any proceeds from the sale of common shares by the forward purchaser or its affiliate. The Company expects to use the net proceeds from its direct sale of common shares in the offering, together with draws under the Company’s senior unsecured revolving credit facility, which the Company expects to repay using the proceeds from a debt private placement, if completed, to fund the previously announced acquisition of Chiller Holdco, LLC (the “Cloverleaf Acquisition”). In the event the Cloverleaf Acquisition is not consummated, the Company intends to use the net proceeds for general business purposes, including repayment of outstanding indebtedness and the funding of other development, expansion and acquisition opportunities. The Company expects to use any cash proceeds that it receives upon the future settlement of the forward sale agreement to fund the previously announced expansion in Atlanta, Georgia (the “Atlanta Expansion”) and for general business purposes, including repayment of outstanding indebtedness and the funding of other development, expansion and acquisition opportunities.

The offering was made only by means of a prospectus supplement and prospectus forming part of an effective shelf registration statement previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).

A copy of the final prospectus supplement may be obtained free of charge from the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor will there be any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements about future events and expectations that constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the Company’s beliefs, assumptions and expectations of its future financial and operating performance and growth plans, taking into account the information currently available to the Company. These statements are not statements of historical fact. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause the Company’s actual results to differ materially from the expectations of future results the Company expresses or implies in any forward-looking statements, and the Company should not place undue reliance on such statements. Factors that could contribute to these differences include, but are not limited to, risks related to the integration of Chiller Holdco, LLC into the Company’s business, risks related to expansions of existing properties and developments of new properties such as the Atlanta Expansion and the three expansion opportunities related to the Cloverleaf Acquisition, including failure to meet budgeted costs, timeframes or stabilized returns in respect thereof and risks related to the method of settlement of the Company’s forward sale agreements, and the form and amount of proceeds of such settlement.

Words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “continues,” “estimates,” “expects,” “goal,” “objectives,” “intends,” “may,” “opportunity,” “plans,” “potential,” “near-term,” “long-term,” “projections,” “assumptions,” “projects,” “guidance,” “forecasts,” “outlook,” “target,” “trends,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “will” and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. The Company qualifies any forward-looking statements entirely by these cautionary factors. Other risks, uncertainties and factors, including those discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, could cause the Company’s actual results to differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements the Company makes. The Company assumes no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.

About Americold Realty Trust

Americold is the world’s largest publicly traded REIT focused on the ownership, operation and development of temperature-controlled warehouses. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Americold owns and operates 155 temperature-controlled warehouses, with approximately 918.7 million refrigerated cubic feet of storage, in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Argentina. Americold’s facilities are an integral component of the supply chain connecting food producers, processors, distributors and retailers to consumers.

Contacts:

Americold Realty Trust
Investor Relations
Telephone: 678-459-1959
Email: investor.relations@americold.com

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