The joint venture between U.K.-based self-storage operator Safestore Holdings PLC and global private-equity firm The Carlyle Group has acquired the six-property Lokabox self-storage portfolio in Belgium. The transaction includes two facilities each in Brussels and Liege and one each in Charleroi and Nivelles. Combined, the portfolio comprises about 222,000 rentable square feet, according to a press release.
The two companies partnered last August to acquire the M3 Self Storage portfolio in The Netherlands. Carlyle holds an 80 percent share of the joint venture through Carlyle Europe Realty (CER), a €540 million European real estate fund. Safestore’s contribution to the Lokabox purchase was about €2.8 million. The operator will also earn revenue from managing the facilities, according to the company’s six-month earnings report for its 2020 fiscal year, which ended on April 30.
“This second acquisition for the joint venture builds on the pan-European investing experience of the Carlyle team, along with the specialist industry knowledge of the Safestore team,” said Marc-Antoine Bouyer, managing director of CER. “We are pleased to have a recognized industry leader as our partner as we enter the Belgian market and develop a robust platform to identify further opportunities in the self-storage market.”
“The acquisition of Lokabox represents an excellent platform for entry into the attractive Belgian self-storage market and a logical next step in our growing joint venture with Carlyle Europe Realty,” added Frederic Vecchioli, CEO of Safestore.
The Belgian self-storage market is the seventh largest in Europe, comprising about 2.2 million square meters of rentable space among 90 facilities, the release stated. The joint venture intends to continue to expand across Europe through acquisition and development.
Safestore operates 158 self-storage facilities, including 126 facilities it owns in the U.K., 28 in France and four in Spain. Its storage properties comprise 6.78 million square feet of storage space and serve approximately 75,000 customers.
Carlyle deploys private capital across four business segments: corporate private equity, global credit, investment solutions and real assets. With $217 billion of assets under management, it employs more than 1,775 people in 32 offices across six continents.
Sources:
Safestore, Half-Year Report
The Carlyle Group, Safestore and Carlyle’s Joint Venture enters Belgian Self-storage Market
