Safestore and Carlyle’s Joint Venture enters Belgian Self-storage Market

London, UK - Safestore (FTSE 250: SAFE) and global investment firm The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) today announced that their joint venture, established in August 2019, has acquired a six-store portfolio of self-storage units from Lokabox.

Lokabox has six Belgian stores in prime locations in Brussels (2), Liege (2), Charleroi and Nivelles totalling c. 20,600 sqm (c. 222,000 sq ft) of lettable space.

The Belgian self-storage market is the 7th largest in Europe with 90 stores and 2.2m sq ft of lettable space. The joint venture intends to continue to expand its platform by investing in further development and acquisition opportunities in self-storage across Europe.

The Carlyle Group has an 80% shareholding in the joint venture through Carlyle Europe Realty (CER), a €540 million pan-European real estate fund, with Safestore holding the balance.

Marc-Antoine Bouyer, Managing Director on the Carlyle Europe Realty advisory team, said: “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. We are pleased to have a recognised 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.”

Frederic Vecchioli, Chief Executive Officer of Safestore said: “Since 2016, Safestore has successfully invested or committed c. £237m to 45 stores, acquisitions and new developments in its core markets. Safestore has developed a multi-country, highly scalable platform with leading marketing and operational expertise in self-storage. 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.”

ENDS
 

Press Enquiries:
The Carlyle Group:
Sami Dodangeh
Tel: +44 (0)7917 804245
Email: sami.dodangeh@carlyle.com

Safestore:
Instinctif Partners           
Guy Scarborough/Catherine Wickman   020 7457 2020
Safestore Holdings plc   020 8732 1500
 

About The Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) is a global investment firm with deep industry expertise that deploys private capital across four business segments: Corporate Private Equity, Real Assets, Global Credit and Investment Solutions. With $217 billion of assets under management as of March 31, 2020, Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of its investors, portfolio companies and the communities in which we live and invest. The Carlyle Group employs more than 1,775 people in 32 offices across six continents. Further information is available at www.carlyle.com. Follow The Carlyle Group on Twitter @OneCarlyle.

About Safestore

• Safestore is the UK’s largest self-storage group with 158 stores at 30 April 2020, comprising 126 wholly owned stores in the UK (including 71 in London and the South East with the remainder in key metropolitan areas such as Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool and Bristol). In Paris, the Group has 28 wholly owned stores and recently acquired 4 stores in Barcelona. In addition, the Group operates 6 stores in the Netherlands under a joint venture agreement with Carlyle.
• Safestore operates more self-storage sites inside the M25 and in central Paris than any competitor providing more proximity to customers in the wealthiest and densest UK and French markets.
• Safestore was founded in the UK in 1998. It acquired the French business “Une Pièce en Plus” (“UPP”) in 2004 which was founded in 1998 by the current Safestore Group CEO Frederic Vecchioli.
• Safestore has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since 2007. It entered the FTSE 250 index in October 2015.
• The Group provides storage to around 76,000 personal and business customers.
• As at 30 April 2020, Safestore had a maximum lettable area (“MLA”) of 6.78 million sq ft (excluding the expansion pipeline stores) of which 4.82 million sq ft was occupied. Safestore employs around 680 people in the UK, Paris and Barcelona.