Metric Capital Partners LLP (MCP), a European private capital group, has launched an investment platform to help independent self-storage operators who wish to acquire and develop facilities in Europe. The MCP Self-Storage Platform is designed to “capitalize on the growth and relative under-penetration of the asset class in Europe by backing local self-storage operators and leveraging the potential economies of scale of a large platform,” company officials said in a press release.
“We can structure robust downside protection while retaining control of key governance topics, but at the same time offer our partners attractive upside in the economic stake of the investment,” said John Sinik, the company’s managing partner and chair of its investment committee. “We believe this platform could scale significantly with important economies of scale.”
As part of the official launch in April, MCP acquired a self-storage business in London and another in Leipzig, Germany. Both businesses are partners in the platform. The company pursued the initiative based on the success of its 2016 investment into Less Mess Storage Inc., which operates a 12-property self-storage portfolio in Central and Eastern Europe, with three facilities in the Czech Republic and nine in Poland, the release stated. At the time of its investment, Less Mess operated five facilities between the two countries.
“[MCP’s] investment thesis is based on the resilience of the business model, offering downside protection from the property portfolio, a low break-even point, robust cash-flow dynamics and low development risk, together with interesting upside potential from a successful creation of shared central services,” said Alastair Balfour, an MCP partner who serves on the Less Mess board of directors. “We have ambitious plans for this business and look forward to working alongside our partners and their teams in the U.K. and Germany to create value over the coming years.”
MCP officials expect to increase the presence of the company’s Germany and U.K. holdings while pursuing additional opportunities across the continent, according to the release.
MCP is an independent private-capital group that invests in European firms. It seeks to become a value-added partner to the companies in which it invests, according to its website. The group manages nearly €1.6 billion in investments spread across three funds raised since 2012. Its most recent fund, Metric Private Capital III, raised €860 million.
Sources:
Global Legal Chronicle, Metric Capital Partners’ Launch of a European Self-Storage Platform
Metric Capital Partners, Website
