Cloverleaf Cold Storage, Sioux City, Iowa, entered into a definitive agreement to recapitalize the company whereby private equity funds affiliated with Blackstone, New York, will make a majority equity investment into Cloverleaf alongside the existing family shareholders, who will continue to operate the business post-closing, to support future growth in the company.

“At Cloverleaf, we are focused on building our business for the long term, continuing to deliver our customers best-in-class service and supporting our communities,” says Daniel Kaplan, co-president of Cloverleaf. “Our partnership with a world-class firm such as Blackstone provides us with significant capital and operating resources to invest for growth and continue to expand our platform. The Feiges and Kaplan families are very pleased to be working with Blackstone, as we begin the next chapter of our growth story.”

Cloverleaf operates a network of 19 warehouses across the United States, providing a variety of food-grade storage, handling and freezing services. Its farmers produce division offers value-added processing and logistics services to the protein industry.

“The Feiges and Kaplan families’ multi-decade commitment to building Cloverleaf into a leading cold storage platform is very impressive,” adds Seth Meisel, senior managing director at Blackstone. “We are excited to partner with Cloverleaf and its outstanding management team, and we look forward to supporting Cloverleaf’s continued growth and expansion.”

“We are pleased to invest significant capital into Cloverleaf to assist the company’s existing shareholders and management team in continuing to build a market-leading platform within the cold storage industry, which has been a strategic industry we have prioritized for investment,” says David Kestnbaum, managing director at Blackstone.