PECO Pallet to be acquired by Alinda Capital Partners and USS

PECO Pallet, Inc., one of North America’s largest providers of pooled rental pallets and services to the food service, grocery and consumer products industries, announced that a definitive agreement has been reached for PECO to be acquired by U.S.-based Alinda Capital Partners and USS, a leading pension fund for the higher education sector in the United Kingdom.

The transaction is expected to be concluded within the next two weeks. Details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Alinda is a global independent investment firm focused on mid-market infrastructure assets that provide essential services. Alinda has holdings in infrastructure businesses in 38 of the 50 United States, as well as in Canada, the United Kingdom and continental Europe. Alinda-owned businesses serve over 100 million customers annually.

USS is the largest private pension fund in the United Kingdom with £75 billion under management (as of August 2020). It has over 400,000 individual members working at more than 340 higher education institutions. It also invests extensively in infrastructure such as ports, utilities, and green energy. 

“Alinda and USS are among the world’s most successful investors in infrastructure businesses which provide the foundation for economic growth,” said Joe Dagnese, president and chief executive officer of privately-held PECO Pallet. “They support our strategy of growing with customers that value the quality and service PECO delivers.”

“We are pleased to be associated with PECO,” added Alinda Chairman Chris Beale. “We believe that PECO is a robust business led by an exceptional management team.”

“PECO is an excellent fit with USS’s investment philosophy of acquiring resilient businesses with a track record of sustainable growth and cashflow generation to help USS deliver a secure financial future for our members. We look forward to working with the management team and continuing our successful partnership with Alinda,” said Michael Powell, Head of Private Markets Group for USS.

Dagnese noted that PECO’s current management and operations team will continue to lead the organization under its new ownership. He added that the acquisition will benefit PECO’s employees, suppliers, partners, distributors, and customers through access to Alinda’s and USS’s resources and their proven strategies of helping essential infrastructure businesses grow profitably in their markets. Alinda and USS have significant experience in transportation and logistics, including infrastructure to handle and store freight and supply chain operations.

PECO currently operates a North American pallet pool network encompassing more than 80 facilities and 21 million pallets. The company builds, services, delivers, and manages distribution of its red, high-quality block pallets for America’s top consumer products, grocery, and other food-related enterprises to ship goods.