10.10.2.4Vertical
Specialty Cold Storage Operations
Cold storage operators serving pharma, chemicals, or specialty products.
Market snapshot
These figures describe Cold Storage & Refrigerated Warehousing (10.10.2), the segment that Specialty Cold Storage Operations sits within — not Specialty Cold Storage Operations on its own.
- Market size
- ~$8B
- Growth
- ~5.6%CAGR (2017–22, nominal)
- Companies
- ~1,200
FragmentationConsolidatingEstimate
U.S. Census Bureau 2022 CBP/Economic Census, NAICS 493120 (refrigerated warehousing & storage); Lineage and Americold dominate. Also referenced under Logistics Outsourcing (cold chain).
Business model & economics
Revenue model
Refrigerated storage and handling fees
Key economics
- Recurring revenue
- High
- EBITDA margin
- Strong
- Capex intensity
- High
recurring storage and throughput
high-barrier cold-storage economics
Characteristics
- Dominated by Lineage and Americold.
- Food/e-grocery and pharma the dual drivers.
- Capital-intensive, high-barrier, recurring demand.
M&A deal context
Deal activityHigh
Who’s acquiring
- Cold-storage majors (Lineage, Americold)
- PE & infrastructure investors
- Refrigerated-logistics consolidators
What’s driving deals
- Cold-storage consolidation and acquisition.
- Pharma cold-chain and e-grocery growth.
- High-barrier infrastructure economics.
Find Specialty Cold Storage Operations acquisition targets
Search Acquisera’s index for companies classified under Specialty Cold Storage Operations (10.10.2.4) and build a targeted deal pipeline.
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