Bay Grove Capital
acquires CityIce
Cold Storage
Jan 11, 2010 8:58 AM
Bay Grove Capital LLC, a principal investment firm based in San Francisco CA, has acquired CityIce Cold Storage, a Seattle WA-based cold storage warehouse services company. The transaction was facilitated through Bay Grove’s holding company, West Coast Cold LLC. West Coast Cold will oversee CityIce, as well as Seafreeze Cold Storage, which Bay Grove acquired in December 2008.
This acquisition, financed by Chase Commercial Banking, brings CityIce and Seafreeze together under common management. West Coast Cold is now a leading cold storage provider in the Seattle region with more than 11 million cubic feet of cold storage and expanded services. Combined, these companies provide more than 140 full-time family wage jobs alongside processing operators, which provide 750-plus jobs.
Bay Grove also has appointed Pat Floyd as president of West Coast Cold. Floyd previously held several key executive positions within the cold storage industry. These included chief operating officer of Nordic Cold Storage, an operator of 14 cold storage facilities based in Atlanta GA; and executive vice-president of North American operations at Total Logistics Control. He was also a board member of the World Food Logistics Organization from 2002 to 2008.
Jack Rosling, CityIce’s founder and owner, will remain involved with West Coast Cold as an investor and strategic advisor. In addition, CityIce’s Kim Suelzle will have an expanded role in the management of both facilities as president of Seafreeze and CityIce.
As part of the transaction, the Port of Seattle recently approved the transfer and extension of CityIce’s leases to West Coast Cold.
In December 2008, Bay Grove acquired Seafreeze from Toyo Suisan Kaisha Ltd, a diversified food company based in Japan. Seafreeze was recently awarded $561,000 in stimulus loans from the US Department of Energy to increase the energy efficiency of its facility. Through a series of equipment and facility upgrades, Seafreeze expects to reduce energy use by 23%.
