New York-based private equity giant picks up Bridgeview meat processing plant

A New York-based private equity firm added a Bridgeview meat processing plant to its trove of more than $22 billion in global assets.

An entity tied to Investcorp bought the Stampede Meat facility at 7351 South 78th Avenue for $33.9 million earlier this month, according to Cook County property records. The entity is controlled by Jonathan Dracos, Investcorp’s head of real estate management.

Investcorp followed up the purchase by securing a $114.6 million loan from Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, records show.

The seller was listed as Link Industrial, a REIT controlled by the New York-based Blackstone Group. Blackstone bought the trust, formerly known as Gramercy Property Trust, in a $7.6 billion deal last year.

Capable of processing as much as 130 million pounds of meat each year, the 149,000-square-foot Bridgeview plant is the largest of four Illinois facilities owned by Stampede Meat. The building includes a cold storage facility and on-site distribution center.

Private equity firm Wynnchurch Capital LLC bought Stampede Meat in 2017, according to Food Business News. The food company opened a new facility in New Mexico last year.

Investcorp has sunk some $11 billion into real estate across the globe since 1996.

The Chicago region’s demand for warehouse and distribution space has drawn global investors who’ve helped bid up the prices of industrial real estate in the area, despite the tens of millions of square feet in spec construction in the pipeline.

Representatives of Investcorp, Link Industrial and Stampede Meat did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday.