Equity Group Buys Preferred Freezer Services To Bolster PRW’s Global Expansion Plans

Fenway Partners, a New York, New York-based private equity firm, has acquired a majority interest in Preferred Freezer Services, LLC, Newark, New Jersey, USA, in partnership with management. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Preferred Freezer Services is the fifth largest company and one of the fastest growing in the public refrigerated warehousing (PRW) industry in the United States. Operating through a national network of 23 strategically situated facilities, Preferred is a leader in storage of frozen seafood, and is rapidly expanding into other frozen categories.

The company is in a massive development stage with six new facilities in both core and new markets, and has five more sites in the pre-development stage, including units in Everett, Massachusetts (Boston Harbor); plus Oakland and Los Angeles, California. In addition, it has reportedly secured several key strategic port locations in Shanghai, China, and in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam, as the first component of its international expansion strategy.

With Preferred’s latest opening of a warehouse right next door to headquarters in New Jersey, the company now operates some 170 million cubic feet of refrigerated space system-wide.

Founder and Chief Executive Officer John Galiher and other members of the senior management team will continue to run the company and retain an approximate 25% ownership stake.

Executive Leadership in Place

“We are excited to be partnering with the Fenway team and look forward to continuing to grow our business with the benefit of their deep experience across many key sectors in transportation and logistics,” said Galiher. “With Fenway’s resources and expertise, we are uniquely positioned to capitalize on our present opportunities and many others in the public refrigerated warehousing industry.”

“Preferred Freezer is an excellent addition to Fenway’s collection of transportation and logistics businesses and growing portfolio of investments in the temperature-controlled niche,” said Marc Kramer, managing director of Fenway and co-head of the firm’s Transportation-Logistics arm. “We are pleased to be partnering with a company with such tremendous potential and a proven track record of growth and innovation in engineering and design.”