News Release
Carlyle sells portfolio of self-storage assets in the Benelux region to Safestore
London, UK, 31 March 2022 - Global investment firm Carlyle (NASDAQ: CG) today announced that it has sold a portfolio of self-storage assets in the Netherlands and Belgium to Safestore (FTSE 250: SAFE), representing the 80% shareholding in their Joint Venture, which was formed in 2019 to access Benelux’s self-storage market. The Joint Venture was valued at an enterprise value of €146m.
The portfolio consists of 15 properties in Benelux totalling 55,000 square meters of maximum leasable area, focused in the Amsterdam and Brussels urban areas. The Joint Venture assembled the portfolio through the acquisitions of two Dutch self-storage operators (M3 Self-storage, Opslag XL) and one Belgian self-storage operator (Lokabox), as well as one development in the Netherlands.
The Joint Venture between Carlyle Europe Realty (CER), Carlyle’s pan-European real estate platform, and Safestore was established in 2019 to acquire and develop assets in the Netherlands and Belgium to access the Benelux region’s attractive self-storage market. The portfolio has benefitted from strong fundamentals within the European self-storage space, driven by secular demographic trends involving increasing urban density and growing residential prices, combined with a significant undersupply in the sector.
Marc-Antoine Bouyer, Managing Director on the CER advisory team, said: “This transaction marks the culmination of a major acquisition and asset management effort through our joint venture with Safestore to assemble an institutional-quality self-storage portfolio of scale with exposure to prime cities in the Netherlands and Belgium. We believe that the market fundamentals for European self-storage remain highly attractive and look forward to working alongside Safestore in identifying further opportunities on the continent.”
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About Carlyle
Carlyle (NASDAQ: CG) is a global investment firm with deep industry expertise that deploys private capital across three business segments: Global Private Equity, Global Credit and Global Investment Solutions. With $301 billion of assets under management as of December 31, 2021, 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. Carlyle employs nearly 1,850 people in 26 offices across five continents. Further information is available at www.carlyle.com. Follow Carlyle on Twitter @OneCarlyle.
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