Our History Jan 2013 Partners with Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. Oaktree Capital Management is a Los Angeles‐based alternative investment firm that manages approximately $80 billion in assets for institutions and individuals. The Funds and their predecessor funds sponsor private debt and equity investments and have a history of acquiring control of attractive companies, partnering with strong management teams, and providing the resources necessary to develop successful businesses. Aug 2013 AGRO purchases The Mullica Hill Group AGRO’s New Jersey/Philadelphia port‐based portfolio company, Mullica Hill Group, pioneered the standardization and documentation of refrigerated warehousing procedures over 20 years ago, with an emphasis on import/export related product handling. In 1999 the Group became the first refrigerated warehouse to be ISO Certified and with over 40,000 refrigerated and frozen pallet positions, is the largest 3rd party meat import location in the U.S. Dec 2013 AGRO purchases Gestíon Frio Algeciras/GFA AGRO’s Algeciras, Spain portfolio company, Gestíon de Frio/GFA, is a port-based cross-dock and storage facility with 44,000 cubic feet of space and 3,500 refrigerated pallet positions. The location will serve as a high-growth platform for future expansion of additional refrigerated and frozen storage, handling, trans-shipment, and related value-added service services including repacking for global trade through the high-growth port of Algeciras. Dec 2013 AGRO purchases Harthoorn Logistics Geographically situated in the center of the Netherlands, 97 kms from the port of Rotterdam, AGRO's Barneveld-based portfolio company boasts 40,000 pallets of refrigerated and frozen storage capacity and provides a wide array of value-added services including storage, handling, repacking, blast freezing, and multi-modal freight forwarding. Largely serving protein-based import and export product handling requirements, key product flows are served across Europe, Africa, Asia, U.S., & South America. Dec 2013 AGRO purchases Wiener Kühlhaus WKF is the largest cold storage warehouse in Austria, with 40,000 pallets and over 150,000 cubic meters of storage, repack, labeling & distribution, as well as one-stop pet food processing, plate freezing, and distribution. Its strategic geographic location and access to main transportation routes allows it to easily reach high-growth markets throughout Germany, Austria, and much of Eastern Europe. WKF boasts long-term customer relationships with some of the worlds’ largest and most recognized multi-national food brands. Dec 2013 AGRO purchases Europe Total Logistics Europe Total Logistics provides "one stop" import, export, and multi-modal freight forwarding and transportation services via the Port of Rotterdam. ETL's extensive European transport provider network offers unparalleled quality, speed, and high-touch customer service. Based in "Gateway to Europe", ETL team of professionals with deep industry experience manage your shipments every step of the way into and out of the port - giving you peace of mind for all of your freight forwarding needs. May 2014 AGRO purchases Castlecool Castlecool is a full-service Irish logistics company that offers a wide range of services to its many valued customers. Whether it is export management, food service order selection, local storage, or complete just-in-time supply chain management, Castlecool has the operational experience and capability to adapt and suit your temperature-controlled storage and distribution requirements within full E.U, BRC, HACCP, and ISO 9001-2000 certified facilities. June 2014 AGRO purchases LUCCA Lucca Freezer & Cold Storage started as a family-owned business in 1982 when we stored Chilean fruit for a single customer in our Hammonton, NJ warehouse. Our maximum capacity at that time was about 400 pallets. Now, our capabilities have grown exponentially to where we manage hundreds of customers and thousands of products in our state-of-the-art facilities with more than 250,000 sq. feet of space. June 2014 AGRO opens Charleston, SC, U.S. AGRO Merchants operates a 121,000 square foot temperature-controlled facility in Charleston, South Carolina, USA that provides state- of- the- art storage, handling, USDA meat import and export inspection services, eight 24-hour blast freezing cells and additional value-added services for its import and export customers. The new, leased location offers 14,000 frozen pallet position, is strategically located outside the Port of Charleston, and allows for overweight loads to assist shippers with optimal outbound loading and inbound de-consolidation support for their supply chain needs. Oct 2014 AGRO purchases Opticool Opticool specializes in the fruit logistics sector where it provides a comprehensive solution offering including: inbound transport, warehousing, inspections, repacking, retail labeling, and other value-added services. Opticool has 19.000 m2 of temperature controlled space located in the Port of Rotterdam and offers a total package of services and solutions from the point of arrival at the Port Terminals in Antwerp and Rotterdam. The Opticool organization consists of three fully integrated companies: Freshlogistics, Freshpacking and Stevedoring. Opticool is HACCP, BRC, IFS, 360 Quality and SKAL certified, and is an official banana weighing station. Opticool is also a NVWA and KCB inspection location and fully AEO certified. Oct 2014 AGRO purchases Dean's Services Located in the Bay Area just a few miles from the Port of Oakland, Dean’s operates one of the largest refrigerated warehouses in Northern California for frozen, chilled and dry goods and is the largest 3rd party meat import location on the U.S. West Coast. Operating in the overweight corridor, Dean’s has been supporting the temperature-controlled import & export trade in the Port of Oakland for more than forty years, and offers a variety of solutions including: USDA imported meat inspection, loading and unloading of ocean containers and railcars, less-than-truckload, full-truckload, and local port drayage based transportation cold storage and handling, trans-load and cross-docking, and other value added services. Oct 2014 AGRO purchases Coldstore Urk & Wibaco Coldstores Urk and Wibaco specialize in the fish logistics sector where they provide a comprehensive range of services including: transport, Border Inspection Post (B.I.P.), warehousing, repacking, picking and other value-added services. The Coldstores Urk and Wibaco footprint includes three temperature-controlled facilities with a capacity of 25,000 pallets and the necessary floor space to provide a total package of services and solutions. Coldstores Urk and Wibaco are customs bonded warehouses and accreditations include AEO, ASC, MSC, SKAL, and IFS. Dec 2014 AGRO purchases Comfrio Soluções Logísticas Founded in 1996, Comfrio Soluções Logísticas, headquartered in Bebedouro, São Paulo, Brazil, offers integrated logistics solutions to its customers, with particular emphasis on its cold chain capabilities. The company, which operates nationwide with warehousing capabilities including frozen, refrigerated, dry storage, and logistics, announced last week its acquisition of Stock Tech Logistica, a leading company that further expands Comfrio’s capabilities and services for its customers. Jan 2015 AGRO purchases Icestar Founded in 1999 to operate the country's largest and leading provider of comprehensive storage of frozen products Refrigerator. Icestar has a privileged location, from a logistical point of view, ease of access to new urban expressway networks in Santiago and through them to the main centers of distribution and production of Santiago, the road from the North and South of the country, the international road to Argentina, to Santiago Airport and the ports of San Antonio and Valparaiso. April 2015 AGRO purchases ADB Cool Company ADB Cool Company is a family business that was founded over 80 years ago. ADB Cool company (or in short, ADB) started with the cooling and storage of Westland grapes. Located in the agrarian logistical heart of the southwest of the Netherlands, the Westland region, we are close to the Port of Rotterdam and have modern facilities available for the storage, treatment and logistical handling of perishables. Aug 2015 AGRO purchases The Sawyers Group The Sawyers Group is based in Co. Armagh, Northern Ireland providing premium chilled and frozen distribution throughout Ireland, the UK and Europe. Over the past 15 years, the group has expanded their service offering to support the food industry, which includes freight forwarding, warehousing, cold storage and value added services like automated crate washing, order picking, etc. The Sawyers Group infrastructure includes a sophisticated transportation fleet and six operating facilities. Oct 2015 AGRO purchases Nordic Logistics and Warehousing For over 50 years, Nordic has been a major provider of temperature controlled and logistics distribution services in the Southeast of the United States. It is a multi-region cold chain provider composed of 12 facilities, more than 70 million cubic feet and 218,000 pallet positions, delivering dedicated solutions to the ever-changing needs of customers. Mar 2016 AGRO purchases APC Logistics APC is a cold storage leader in Spain, with two locations 25km and 30km north of Barcelona providing excellent accessibility via the main motorways. With 55,000 pallet positions, APC has a long-standing track record of providing large scale solutions to the ice cream and other market segments within the cold chain industry. Nov 2016 AGRO purchases Doboy Cold Stores Founded in 1979 as a family-owned business, Doboy has grown into one of the most successful cold storage operators in Australia. Doboy operates out of two sites located near the Port of Brisbane and maintains a diverse product mix that includes meats, seafood, fruit, nuts and bakery items. The Doboy acquisition is a continuation of AGRO’s global growth strategy and represents an important entry into the Asia Pacific region. Dec 2016 AGRO opens new facility in the Maasvlakte, Rotterdam AGRO Merchants Group completed the first phase of its Rotterdam-Maasvlakte facility, adding 18,000 pallets of frozen and chilled space to the market. Located in Rotterdam, the largest European port in throughput volume, AGRO Maasvlakte will provide comprehensive services for the meat and seafood industry and will also serve as a replacement Veterinary Border Inspection Point (BIP), which previously operated in Coldstore Wibaco, Barendrecht. Mar 2017 AGRO purchases Frissul and Frigomato Frissul and Frigomato are cold store leaders in Portugal, with 55,700 pallet positions in across three locations. This acquisition provides a strategic footprint in the Iberian peninsula for AGRO Merchants Group. The company’s largest cold store is located in Carregado Lisbon district. Two additional facilities are based in Aveleda and Aguda, both in the Porto area. The business is well-known for its high levels of quality, innovation and extensive expertise in value-added services. Jul 2017 AGRO purchases Poland Services Transport PSTL specializes in storage, value-added services and logistics of frozen meat, poultry, seafood and other goods such as frozen fruit, vegetables and dairy products, including transportation using owned fleet assets, or strategic subcontractors, freight forwarding, customs clearance, complete export documentation and cargo insurance. Dec 2017 AGRO acquires Grocontinental Grocontinental is based in Whitchurch, Shropshire and operates from a purpose-built 35-acre site. The facility offers 197,000 pallet spaces of multi-temperature storage and manages 5,000 daily pallet movements, all controlled by the latest in systems technology. August 2018 AGRO acquires Transmode Transmode is today the largest regional meat delivery service in the North East United States and one of the most important players in this import market. Transmode’s operations are split between port drayage services and outbound transportation to distribution centers and processing facilities. May 2019 AGRO acquires Cool-Pak Solutions Cool Pak operates a state-of-the-art, 175,000 square foot facility that is strategically located within the overweight corridor at the Port of Long Beach. Originally founded to support produce firms with their import/export activities in and out of Southern California, Cool Pak has developed deep expertise across a range of services including inspection, grading, repacking, reconditioning, cross-docking and fumigation. June 2019 AGRO Acquires Iberian Operations of Friopuerto AGRO Merchants Group has announced the acquisition of the three Iberia-based cold stores from Friopuerto. The largest of these three newly acquired facilities is a 10,000 square meter cold store located in the Port of Valencia, the two other cold stores are located in Portugal at the Ports of Sines and Leixões. October 2020 Americold Realty Trust Announces Strategic Acquisition of AGRO Merchants Group The world’s largest publicly traded REIT focused on the ownership, operation, acquisition and development of temperature-controlled warehouses, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire privately held AGRO Merchants Group (“AGRO”) from an investor group led by funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management. See more at americold.com +31 (0) 85 0436430 (Europe) +1-888-599-5512 (North America) info@agromerchants.com See also Network Commodity Expertise Value added services Storage & Logistics Fresh & Frozen Sustainability Blog About AGRO Merchants Group was founded in January 2013. Along with its financial partner, Oaktree Capital Management, AGRO Merchants currently operates over 7.7 million cubic meters of temperature-controlled warehouse and distribution space in the U.S, UK, Austria, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Australia, Brazil, Chile and the Netherlands. © 2021 - Privacy Policy Cookies Terms of use We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Read more Close message