Link Logistics Appoints Diane Morefield and Grace Vandecruze to Board of Directors

2/17/21

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Link Logistics Real Estate, a Blackstone portfolio company and operator of the largest portfolio of high-quality logistics real estate assets in strategic last-mile locations exclusively in the U.S., today announced the appointment of two new directors to its Board of Directors. Diane Morefield, former Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of CyrusOne, and Grace Vandecruze, Founder and Managing Director of Grace Global Capital LLC, will join the Board effective immediately.

Phil Hawkins, Executive Chairman of the Link Board, commented, “We are very excited to welcome Diane and Grace to our Board and will benefit from their collective industry, financial and governance expertise. Diane is a seasoned real estate executive with a deep understanding of our industry, more than 40 years of financial and operational experience and proven success as a public company leader and board member. Grace’s strong financial acumen and expertise advising companies will add valuable insight to our Board. I look forward to working with both of them, and our entire Board, as we execute our strategy.”

“Over the past year, we made great strides strengthening our portfolio of high-quality assets through strategic acquisitions and development activity,” said Link’s Chief Executive Officer, Luke Petherbridge. “We have significant opportunities ahead to capitalize on the unprecedented shift to e-commerce, as well as technology advancements in logistics. Diane and Grace make great additions to our Board, as they bring unique and complementary experience that will help us build on our success and advance our goal of building tomorrow’s supply chain.”

“Link is an impressive company at the forefront of the real estate logistics industry, and I am thrilled to join the Board,” said Ms. Morefield. “I look forward to working with Phil, Luke and the entire team to help build on the Company’s momentum.”

Ms. Vandecruze stated, “I am honored to be part of the Link Board as the Company capitalizes on the global e-commerce and logistics trends. Link is well-positioned to continue its growth, and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to contribute in a meaningful way.”

An overview of Link’s Board of Directors and biographies for each member can be found on the Company’s website at www.linklogistics.com.

About Diane Morefield

Ms. Morefield served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of CyrusOne, a publicly-traded data center REIT, from 2016 until her retirement at year-end 2020. During her tenure at CyrusOne, where she led all aspects of accounting and finance, she raised over $13 billion in capital markets transactions and achieved investment-grade status for the company. Prior to CyrusOne, she was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Strategic Hotels & Resorts and has served in a variety of financial, operating and investor relations roles for leading real estate organizations, including as Chief Financial Officer of Equity International and as Senior Vice President with Equity Office Properties Trust. Her earlier career experience includes real estate banking, consulting and public accounting.

Ms. Morefield currently serves on the Board of Directors for Copart, as Chair of Nominating and Governance and on the Audit Committee, and on the Board of UDR Inc., as a member of the Audit and Governance Committees. She previously served on the Board and as Audit Committee Chair of Spirit Realty Capital from 2012 through 2018. She is Co-Chair of Nareit’s diversity and inclusion initiative and has served on other private and community boards.

She earned her Bachelors’ degree in Accountancy from the University of Illinois and her MBA from the University of Chicago, and she is a Certified Public Accountant.

About Grace Vandecruze

Ms. Vandecruze is the Founder and Managing Director of Grace Global Capital LLC, a financial services firm specializing in financial advisory, restructuring, and valuation services to corporations and organizations worldwide. Throughout her career, Ms. Vandecruze has executed over $25 billion in M&A and financing transactions.

She brings extensive expertise in mergers and acquisitions and capital-raising in both the private and public markets for financial institutions. From 1999 to 2006, she served as Managing Director at Swiss Re, where she was responsible for the firm's regulatory advisory practice in the insurance and financial services industries. Prior to joining Swiss Re, Ms. Vandecruze was a Vice President at a private equity firm specializing in the insurance industry and an Associate in the Financial Institutions Group at Merrill Lynch.

Ms. Vandecruze serves as a director at M Financial Group, serving on the Audit Committee, and a director at The Doctors Company.

She received a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Pace University and an MBA in Finance from the University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School. She is a Certified Public Accountant and is a member of the AICPA.

About Link Logistics

Link Logistics, established by Blackstone in 2019, is a leading national provider of logistics real estate solutions designed to meet the needs of the modern supply chain. The Company operates the largest portfolio of high-quality logistics real estate assets located exclusively in the U.S. Link Logistics has more than 5,800 customers and 400 million square feet of logistics facilities across key distribution markets, particularly strategic last-mile locations in the U.S. Link Logistics has the scale, geographic footprint and logistics expertise, as well as a heightened focus on sustainability to power the supply chain of tomorrow. For more information regarding the Company, please visit www.linklogistics.com.

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