Now add Versacold to Eimskip Holdings.

Versacold Income Fund, which operates 72 Versacold refrigerated warehouses, mostly in Canada and the United States, has agreed to be acquired by Iceland's Eimskip Holdings--which has fast become a world-class player in the refrigerated logistics industry.

The purchase price was $525 million, or $1.1 billion with assumed debt. Another Canada-based cold-storage operator, Atlas Cold Storage Income Trust, had already been acquired by Eimskip for $583 million. The Icelandic group will now hold 55% of the market in Canada, according to Versacold CEO Brent Sugden.

The deal was "the culmination of the strategic review process the fund undertook and represents the highest-value alternative to unitholders," stated George Armoyan, chairman of Vancouver-based Versacold, where first quarter earnings fell to $2.1 million from $5.6 million a year ago, while revenue rose five per cent to $178.5 million.

With 4,100 employees at 72 locations in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina, Versacold "fits well within our long-term strategy to build a worldwide network of temperature-controlled transportation and warehousing services," stated Baldur Gudnason, ceo of Eimskip, which changed its name from Avion Group last November, a month after taking over Atlas.

In January, Eimskip assumed full ownership of Daalimpex Beheer, a major refrigerated warehouse concern in Holland, where it operates six coldstores. This acquisition was seen by Eimskip as "a good platform for further development of reefer service in Europe."

With its previous acquisition of a majority stake in Innovate and Corby and the 100% takeover of Daalimpex, Eimskip became a leading European cold storage company. The acquisition of Atlas and Versacold has now given it a trans-continental presence.