Lineage, the world’s largest operator of cold storage warehouses, raised $4.44 billion in its initial public offering (IPO) in the United States, the largest stock market debut in the world this year, Reuters reported.
KEY FACTS
- Lineage listed just under 57 million shares in New York at $78 apiece, at the upper end of its previously announced range of $70 to $82.
- The $4.44 billion IPO values Lineage at more than $18 billion and is the largest since chip company Arm raised $4.87 billion in its IPO last September.
- Lineage’s books will begin trading on the Nasdaq on Thursday.
INTERESTING FACT
Global IPOs raised $48.8 billion in the first half of 2024, down 18% from a year earlier and the lowest level for the period since 2016, LSEG data showed. But proceeds from U.S. IPOs reached $17 billion, more than double year-earlier levels and a three-year high.
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KEY STORY
Lineage specializes in temperature-controlled warehouses, operating 482 such warehouses worldwide and serving more than 13,000 customers, many of whom are involved in food supply chains such as distributors, retailers and manufacturers.
Adam Forst and Kevin Marchetti founded the business as a single warehouse in Seattle in 2008. Since then, they’ve grown the company with 116 acquisitions, generating $5.3 billion in revenue by 2023. Forst and Marchetti’s company, Bay Grove Capital, owns the majority by Lineage.
The company is structured as a real estate investment trust that allows shareholders to deduct some of the taxes they pay on their dividends. The company used its cash flow for acquisitions and investments in its business, reporting a net loss of $162.8 million in the 12 months to the end of March.
