Christopher Papa will join Americold as executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective February 23. The Atlanta, Georgia, USA-headquartered temperature-controlled logistics company operates more than 230 warehouse facilities across North and South America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region – totaling approximately 1.4 billion refrigerated cubic feet – and is engaged in the movement of refrigerated products worldwide.
Papa (pictured above) is a highly regarded public company finance leader with nearly 40 years of experience across real estate, accounting, tax, investor relations and corporate finance. He currently serves as executive vice president and chief financial officer at CenterPoint Properties, a developer, owner and manager of industrial real estate. His prior experience includes CFO roles at both Post Properties and Liberty Property Trust, reflecting a strong track record of leading finance functions at large, publicly traded real estate platforms. Papa began his career in public accounting, is a certified public accountant, and later served as an audit partner at BDO and Arthur Andersen.
“We are thrilled to welcome Chris to our leadership team as our next CFO,” said Rob Chambers, chief executive officer of Americold. “His extensive real estate experience and strong financial acumen align well with our strategic focus as we continue to execute against our 2026 priorities and position the company for future growth. Chris is well known to the investment community and will play a key role in strengthening our balance sheet, supporting disciplined capital allocation, and helping to drive long-term value creation for our shareholders.”
As part of the transition, Jay Wells, executive vice president and chief financial officer, has departed Americold. During the transition period, Scott Henderson, the company’s chief investment officer, will serve as Interim chief financial officer until Papa’s appointment becomes effective.
“We appreciate Jay’s contributions to Americold over the past two years,” Chambers said. “He has built a strong finance team, and I wish him well in his future endeavors. Scott has a deep understanding of Americold’s business, and we expect his experience and leadership will bring continuity across our finance organization during this brief interim period.”
Americold also announced that Nathan Harwell, chief legal officer, will assume the expanded role of chief people officer, in addition to his current responsibilities. As chief legal and people officer, he will oversee the company’s legal, compliance, and human resources functions, supporting Americold’s commitment to associate engagement and organizational alignment.
Meanwhile, the company expects to deliver fourth-quarter AFFO per share of between $0.36 and $0.38, consistent with its previously issued 2025 outlook as communicated on November 6, 2025. Americold will release its fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results on February 19.
