An activist investor is pushing Americold Realty Trust to remove Mark Patterson as the chairman of the firm’s board of directors, citing his tenure on the board of scandal-ridden office landlord Paramount Group.
Sieve Capital has launched a campaign focusing on Patterson and his unnamed boardroom allies for pursuing short-sighted deals and bringing poor governance practices to Americold, a cold-storage REIT. Sieve wants Americold to remove Patterson as chairman or decline to nominate him at the firm’s upcoming annual shareholders meeting
“If shareholders take the time to review publicly available information pertaining to Mr. Patterson’s history as a fiduciary, we believe they will conclude there is no basis or justification for him remaining involved with Americold,” Sieve Capital said in a press release.
Sieve Capital is asking Americold to review all strategic alternatives, including a sale of the company or the firm’s international operations.
In a release announcing its push to remove Patterson, Sieve Capital referenced The Real Deal’s reporting about Patterson’s business dealings with Paramount Group CEO Albert Behler. TRD found that Behler agreed to provide at least two loans to Boomerang Systems, a robotic garage company led by Patterson, in late 2014 as the company headed to bankruptcy.
In 2018, Patterson joined Paramount’s board. At one point, he chaired Paramount’s nominating and corporate governance committee.
“It’s not a good look, whether in fact he’s compromised or not; the optics are bad,” said Charles Elson, the founding director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware, at the time.
Sieve Capital pointed to an instance at Paramount, where Patterson was voted out by a majority of shareholders in 2021 only for Paramount to overrule the shareholders, as another example of poor corporate governance. Paramount was sold to Rithm Capital in December 2025.
Patterson also serves as a director at Digital Realty Trust.
Americold owns over 230 facilities and is the world’s second-largest owner and operator of cold-storage warehouses. Americold received offers for its international business last year from Constellation Cold and CubeCold, Semafor reported. The international business was valued at about $1.5 billion.
The firm has struggled with its high-debt load. Americold reported a net loss of $88.3 million in its fourth quarter 2025 earnings. And its stock has fallen more than 70 percent since April 2021 to $11.23.
Last year, activist investor Ancora Group Holdings pushed Americold to review strategic alternatives, including a possible sale, Bisnow reported. Sieve Capital said the company should pivot away from exploring joint venture deals which drain cash flow, and instead look at all options.
“We do not understand how a majority of the Board could oppose publicly announcing a comprehensive review of all strategic alternatives, ” Sieve Capital said in its release.
Americold declined to comment. Patterson did not return a request for comment.
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