Shurgard Self-Storage, the international brand operated by U.S. real estate investment trust Public Storage Inc., has agreed to purchase the 23-property City Box self-storage portfolio controlled by Immofinanz Group, an Austria-based real estate investor and developer. The sale of the Netherlands-based self-storage chain effectively marks Immofinanz’s exit from the self-storage market, according to a press release.
“The sale price exceeds the carrying amount of the properties, [and] the parties have agreed not to disclose further details of the transaction,” Immofinanz officials said. “The contract has already been signed, and the closing is expected to take place until early July.”
City Box is the second-largest self-storage chain in the Netherlands, according to the release. Immofinanz acquired a 90 percent stake in the business in 2007 and increased its holding to 95 percent during the 2009-10 fiscal year.
“This sale represents a further strategic step to adjust and optimize our portfolio and concentrate on our core markets in Central and Eastern Europe, said Oliver Schumy, CEO of Immofinanz. “At the same time, we are also benefitting from the dynamic demand by investors in this segment.”
Neither Shurgard nor Public Storage officials have commented on the sale agreement. Shurgard currently operates 40 self-storage facilities in the Netherlands, according to its website.
The transaction will reduce the share of Immofinanz properties outside of its core markets of Central and Eastern Europe to 1.5 percent, company officials said. It held 3.5 percent of its holdings outside of its core markets as of January.
Immofinanz is listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange and Warsaw Stock Exchange. Founded in 1990, its portfolio comprises more than 470 investment properties worth approximately €6.8 billion, according to the release. The company’s core markets are Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia and Slovakia.
Shurgard operates 197 facilities in seven European countries, with approximately 10 million net rentable square feet. Based in Glendale, Calif., Public Storage has interests in 2,258 self-storage facilities in 38 states, with approximately 146 million net rentable square feet.
