🧊 CubeCold Theale wins Best Commercial Project of the Year

Welcome back to CubeCold News where we cover the latest developments in the cold chain industry and temperature-controlled logistics.

In today’s edition:

• CubeCold Theale wins Best Commercial Project of the Year

• Arsenal Capital Partners acquires ThermoSafe from Sonoco for a total of up to $725 million

• AIIM expands Africa's largest cold storage platform with Port Elizabeth acquisition

• Lineage expands Hobart, Indiana facility

• JLL completes sale of LBA Logistics' industrial portfolio

CubeCold

The winner of Best Commercial Project of the Year is… CubeCold, Theale.

CubeCold is thrilled to announce that the development in Theale has been awarded Best Commercial Project at the Berks Property Awards!

A heartfelt thank you to all our partners and team members who made this possible.

We are proud to be investing in Theale and contributing to the region’s growth with innovative, sustainable, and future-ready cold-chain infrastructure.

News

Arsenal Capital Partners acquires ThermoSafe from Sonoco for a total purchase price of up to $725 million Arsenal Capital Partners, a private equity firm specializing in industrial growth and healthcare companies, completed the acquisition of ThermoSafe from Sonoco Products Company.

• ThermoSafe, headquartered in Arlington Heights, Illinois, is a global leader in temperature assurance technologies for transporting pharmaceuticals, biologics, vaccines, and healthcare products.

• The company operates vertically integrated facilities and offers a comprehensive portfolio including bio-based insulation materials and reusable technologies for refrigerated, frozen, and controlled room temperature applications.

• Through its ISC Labs division, ThermoSafe provides customized design, testing services, innovative packaging technologies, and qualification support to meet regulatory requirements.

• Arsenal brings extensive expertise in specialty packaging markets, with current and prior investments including Airnov Healthcare Packaging, Spartech, POLYWOOD, Revolution, and Chroma Color Corporation. (PR Newswire)

AIIM expands Africa's largest cold storage platform with Port Elizabeth acquisition African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM) has acquired a 70% stake in Port Elizabeth Cold Storage (PECS) through its temperature-controlled logistics platform, Commercial Cold Holdings (CCH), using funds from AIIF4 and the IDEAS Managed Fund.

• This acquisition adds 15,000 pallet positions to CCH, expanding its national footprint by 10% and reinforcing its position as Africa's largest cold storage platform.

• PECS, strategically located in South Africa's Eastern Cape, the country's second-largest citrus-producing region, handles over 200,000 pallets of citrus exports annually, representing approximately 8% of national citrus exports.

• The acquisition diversifies CCH's portfolio from local retail toward export-driven products and provides access to the Coega Industrial Development Zone for potential expansion.

• CEO Paul Gibbons emphasized CCH's goal to become the preferred partner for growers, retailers, and exporters. (AIIM Africa)

Lineage expands Hobart, Indiana facility Lineage, Inc., the world's largest temperature-controlled warehouse REIT, celebrated the expansion of its Hobart, Indiana cold storage facility, adding 188,000 sq ft and 58,000 pallet positions equipped with next-generation automation technology.

• This third expansion since 2008 makes it the company's largest North American facility serving multiple customers.

• The automated expansion enhances Lineage's Velocities multivendor freight consolidation program, which combines shipments from various vendors into shared truckloads with fixed sailing schedules to distribution centres across the U.S. and Canada.

• The program helps food producers, retailers, and distributors reduce transportation costs while improving delivery reliability.

• The Lineage Foundation for Good, in partnership with Henningsen Family Fund, presented $50,000 in grants to local non-profits selected by employees: the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana, Phil's Friends, and the American Red Cross Northwest Indiana Chapter. (Lineage)

JLL completes sale of LBA Logistics' industrial portfolio JLL Capital Markets announced the successful sale of LBA Logistics' seven-property industrial portfolio through two separate transactions.

• MDH Partners acquired a six-asset Central-Sunbelt portfolio totalling nearly 1.5 million sq ft across Jacksonville, Atlanta, Broward County, Columbus, Louisville, and Cincinnati.

• Venture One purchased a 77,838 sq ft cold storage facility in Glendale Heights, Chicago.

• The Central-Sunbelt collection features fully leased properties with tenants spanning pharmaceutical, aerospace, food and beverage, and household products sectors.

• The Chicago facility represents rare infill cold storage capacity in the constrained North DuPage submarket, featuring approximately 38,000 sq ft of freezer space.

• The disposition demonstrates strong investor demand for strategically located industrial assets, particularly specialized cold storage facilities in supply-constrained markets. (JLL)

Other headlines

Magnavale Easton's 101,000-pallet automated cold storage facility in Grantham, UK and Griffco Design/Build's Scout Cold Logistics project in Texas won CEBA's Built By The Best Awards at the Las Vegas conference.

Lineage’s global cold storage network and data analytics capabilities help customers navigate supply chain disruptions including tariff impacts, capacity constraints, and distribution network optimization.

Dexus has completed a new 17,000 sq m temperature-controlled warehouse in Melbourne’s west, which will serve as the national operations centre for H&H Group, the Hong Kong-listed owner of Swisse vitamins.

China's Zhoushan Ningshing shipyard delivered two 9000DWT ultra-low temperature refrigerated cargo ships, XIN XIANG LI 55 and 56, featuring 11,500 cubic meter compartments capable of maintaining -55°C for tuna transport.

Approximately 25% of vaccines are wasted annually due to inadequate temperature control in cold chain transportation and storage, with IoT technology emerging as a solution for real-time monitoring and alerts.

That’s it for this week!

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