A week after raising $4.4 billion by taking the company public on the NASDAQ stock exchange, the cold chain warehouse service provider Lineage today said it will share some of that money with its workforce through a $100 million stock-ownership plan.
Novi, Michigan-based Lineage said eligible U.S. team members will receive a one-time award of stock or restricted stock units. Those “Starting LINE Awards”—named as a nod to the company’s new ticker symbol—will reach the vast majority of Lineage’s more than 16,000 U.S. team members, the company said.
Founded in 2008 as a venture capital-backed firm with an appetite for acquisitions, Lineage is now valued at $18 billion and calls itself the world’s largest global temperature-controlled warehousing REIT (real estate investment trust). The company is responsible for storing, handling, and transporting food products across the U.S. and around the globe, operating more than 480 warehouses in 19 countries.
On top of this one-time award, the company will also launch a program of ongoing equity-based awards to further incentivize an ownership mentality for Lineage team members, the firm said. When it launches next year, the “Lineage Legacies” program will grant eligible team members restricted stock units that will vest over time on an ongoing basis.
“Time and again, the Lineage team steps up to serve in the face of whatever is thrown at them—which has included a global pandemic where they served as essential workers to help keep the world fed. I am proud of this team every day but today especially I am honored to reward them for their dedicated service,” Greg Lehmkuhl, president and CEO of Lineage, said in a release.
And in an additional move following its IPO, Lineage also pledged $8.8 million in food donations and cash grants to community partners to address hunger and food insecurity. The funding comes from the company’s independent philanthropic arm, the Lineage Foundation for Good.
