Constellation Cold Logistics, a pan-European platform comprising cold storage businesses, announced that its partner company in Belgium, Stockhabo, has reached an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares in Frigologix. This acquisition strengthens Stockhabo’s leading position and service offering in the Belgian market and expands the Constellation network into France.
The acquisition marks the sixth investment by Constellation, with a network now spanning Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK. Including Frigologix, Constellation will be able to offer its clients access to over 440k pallet positions of capacity in its modern facilities across six countries in Northwest Europe. Constellation is a portfolio company of Arcus Infrastructure Partners, an independent fund manager with significant experience in European infrastructure investments.
Xavier Haspeslagh, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Stockhabo, underlined the strategic benefits of the acquisition: “We have seen Frigologix as a complementary business to ours for several years, operating as a family-owned market-leader in the North of Belgium and Eastern France, which fits well with our current footprint in Southern Belgium. We share the long-term vision for the business with Reinier and his key customers, and are excited for the opportunity to grow and improve our offering alongside those customers. Stockhabo will always seek to meet and exceed the needs of our customers. This acquisition presents an opportunity for us to demonstrate that strategy to new and existing relationships in the market. We have been very impressed with the business that Reiner has built and look forward to building on that solid base with the Frigologix team over the coming years.”
Reinier Van Elderen, Founder and CEO of Frigologix, commented: "It has been with great pleasure and enthusiasm that my Frigologix team and I have built our business to the level it has achieved to this date. It is now time for a new step to allow Frigologix to continue its growth and its attractive position in the market together with its outstanding service to customers. As such, we feel confident that the business and its customers are in good hands with Stockhabo and the broader Constellation platform. They combine the best of both worlds, with continued family ownership alongside a leading long-term investor, as well as a focus on innovation and the core value of building strong and long-lasting partnerships with their clients.”
About Stockabo
Stockhabo is a leading provider of cold storage and logistics to major food businesses in Belgium and across Europe. The Company owns four large-scale cold storage facilities in Southern Belgium, with c. 160,000 pallet positions of capacity. The Company recently successfully delivered a fully-automated cold storage facility with 60,000 pallet positions located in Mouscron, Belgium and is currently building an additional fully-automated facility comprising close to 30,000 pallet positions at the same site. In addition to temperature-controlled storage solutions, Stockhabo also offers a variety of value-added services, including freezing, thawing, and order picking. Stockhabo was founded in 2001 and continues to follow its mission of being a strong, efficient and solution-oriented partner for its clients. Stockhabo will continue to make the investments required to meet and exceed its customers’ needs and expectations.
About Frigologix
Frigologix is a leading cold logistics provider, providing high quality temperature-controlled storage facilities at Lommel and Herk-de-Stad in Belgium, and at Val-de-Meuse in France. The company supports market-leading customers with a capacity of 75,000 frozen and chilled pallet positions. In addition to storage, Frigologix offers a full suite of cold logistics services, including tailor-made solutions for customers who rely on the company as a trusted partner to fulfill their supply chain requirements.
About Constellation
Constellation is a platform company comprising market-leading cold storage and logistics businesses in Europe. Its aim is to become a European leader in delivering networked high-quality cold chain infrastructure solutions to its food industry customers. Following this transaction, the group currently includes HSH in the UK, Glacio in Norway and Sweden, Lintelo in the Netherlands and Stockhabo in Belgium and France, with a total of over 440,000 pallet positions across 18 facilities and a wide range of customers across Europe and globally. Constellation’s financial sponsor is Arcus Infrastructure Partners, an independent fund manager focused solely on long-term investments in European infrastructure with €6.1bn in assets under management as of 31 December 2020.
