Stonepeak, I Squared Race for ASEAN Cold-Chain Rollup

Infrastructure heavyweights Stonepeak and I Squared Capital are accelerating efforts to build scale across ASEAN’s fragmented cold-storage sector. The aggressive push comes as a historically localised warehouse trade increasingly attracts institutional capital seeking to build scalable regional infrastructure platforms.

The newest battleground is Indonesia. Just nine months after launching its Singapore-based Peregrine Cold Logistics with an anchor Philippine asset, New York-headquartered Stonepeak is taking the platform into ASEAN’s largest economy.

Earlier, Peregrine formed a joint venture with local developer Sinar Primera to acquire an operating facility in Pluit, North Jakarta, and develop a second site in Narogong, Bekasi. Although financial terms and the equity split remain undisclosed, the JV is projected to deliver approximately 35,000 sq. m of capacity across Greater Jakarta upon completion.

The operational asset in Pluit provides immediate capacity near primary shipping ports and toll networks. Meanwhile, the Narogong development plot sits within a 27-hectare industrial estate strategically positioned between Jakarta and West Java, with direct access to the JORR 2 and South Japek II toll roads.

The move puts Peregrine into the same market as Miami-based I Squared, which plans a massive, multi-year build-out of Cella after agreeing to acquire the platform.

The scale comparison is stark. I Squared agreed in August to acquire Cella from NWP Property and Japan’s CRE, signalling an aggressive intent to grow. Cella currently operates five active sites covering 231,000 sq. m across Greater Jakarta and Surabaya. I Squared has outlined plans to expand that portfolio more than sixfold to 1.5 Mn sq. m over the next four to five years, extending its footprint into secondary hubs such as Medan. The transaction is slated to close in the third quarter of 2026.

The multi-jurisdictional rivalry extends to the Philippines as well. Stonepeak’s platform anchors its footprint via Pinnacle Cold Storage in Calamba, Laguna, situated adjacent to the South Luzon Expressway. The institutional-grade facility comprises 8,600 cold-storage pallet positions across 10 temperature-controlled areas maintained between 0°C and −25°C, supplemented by 1,900 air-conditioned and 3,500 ambient dry-storage positions.

I Squared is matching Stonepeak’s Philippine push with majority control of Royale Cold Storage, which operates five cold storage facilities serving Metro Manila and surrounding provinces. It deployed at least $130 Mn to secure more than an 80% stake in Royale, company president Joey Tiongson told journalists after the October 2025 Bulacan groundbreaking ceremony.

Different Playbooks, Similar Targets

The operations of both firms underscore a structural shift in infrastructure investing, as institutional managers move beyond commoditised logistics warehouses into more complex cold-chain operations.

This approach treats refrigerated hubs less like standalone property plays and more like critical logistics infrastructure across high-growth emerging markets. The modern model pairs strategic acquisitions with advanced automation, data analytics and integrated supply chain services, with warehouse square footage accumulation giving way to network-level operating advantage.

The institutional playbook draws heavily on a consolidation blueprint that Stonepeak has refined with Lineage, the global cold-storage giant it first backed in 2018. As of June 30, 2026, Lineage operated 498 facilities spanning approximately 87 Mn sq. ft and 3.1 Bn cubic ft of capacity across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

The operational link between the Lineage blueprint and Peregrine is direct. Peregrine’s chief executive officer, Jeff Hogarth, previously served as Lineage’s Asia-Pacific president, where he oversaw regional expansion, including the 2022 acquisition of Singapore’s Mandai Link Logistics.

Under his direction, Peregrine is pursuing a hybrid brownfield-greenfield model, leveraging strategic acquisitions for immediate operating capacity while simultaneously breaking ground on new facilities.

Stonepeak’s thesis rests on high customer switching costs, defensive cash flows that remain resilient during economic contractions, and a highly fragmented competitive structure that leaves significant room for institutional consolidation and operational upgrades.

Because ownership across much of Asia remains highly fragmented, the sector presents substantial room for consolidation and operational upgrades. Peregrine says it intends to invest in technology while building a network of high-performance facilities and integrated temperature-controlled logistics solutions, moving the value proposition beyond property ownership alone.

Moreover, integrated regional networks can command premium pricing from international institutional tenants that standalone local warehouses, facing intensifying price competition, cannot.

Meanwhile, I Squared is targeting a significantly broader base, anchored by an aggressive capacity expansion to capture rising demand from consumer retail, grocery and e-commerce networks. In Indonesia, therefore, Stonepeak faces a well-capitalised competitor whose acquisition target already has a substantially larger operating footprint and a stated 1.5 Mn sq. m expansion target, pending the close of the Cella acquisition.

Connecting the Trade Corridors

Peregrine’s long-term thesis targets a broader cross-border network. The management aims to integrate its Indonesian and Philippine capacity into a unified logistics platform spanning ASEAN and the Gulf Cooperation Council. After all, a unified platform allows multinational FMCGs, grocery conglomerates and quick-service restaurant chains to secure standardised temperature controls and integrated, multi-country supply chain solutions.

This race to build scale mirrors previous infrastructure super-cycles that transformed telecommunications towers and data centres into high-valuation asset classes across ASEAN. Cold-chain networks, however, introduce a different set of operational frictions. Operators must manage heavy power requirements, multiple temperature zones across different food categories, and align physical assets with high-density consumption centres, not proximity to fibre backbones.

Cold-storage assets are beginning to look less like localised warehouse real estate and more like the next vital regional infrastructure platform waiting to be consolidated. The question is which investor assembles it first.