02 December 2022

Safestore Holdings plc

("Safestore" or the "Group")

Safestore and Carlyle form joint venture to enter German market

Rotterdam development property added to Safestore's pipeline

Notice of results

Highlights

·    Entry into German market via a new joint venture ("JV") with Carlyle which has acquired the seven-store myStorage business with 326,000 sq ft of MLA¹

·     New development site secured by the Group in Rotterdam in the Netherlands

Frederic Vecchioli, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"Following our previous successful JV with Carlyle in the Benelux region, we have established a new German JV which has acquired the seven-store myStorage business. Germany is one of Europe's most under-penetrated self-storage markets and I look forward to growing our presence there."

"In addition, we have added a new development site in Rotterdam which supports our continued strategy of expanding our footprint in the Benelux market and extends the Group's development pipeline to 1.5m sq ft."

Joint venture with Carlyle and Investment in myStorage in Germany

Safestore has entered the German Self Storage market via a new joint venture with global investment firm Carlyle (NASDAQ: CG), which has acquired the myStorage business.

Safestore has developed a multi-country highly scalable platform with leading marketing and operational expertise in self-storage, with a proven track record for developing its platform in new markets. 

The acquisition of myStorage represents an excellent opportunity to develop our platform into the attractive German self-storage market. The JV builds upon our previous successful relationship with Carlyle having entered the Benelux market in 2019. Our common intention is to target development and acquisition opportunities through the JV, providing the opportunity to achieve operational scale and to develop local market knowledge, whilst also retaining the option for Safestore to develop its own wholly owned self-storage sites in Germany. We look forward to continuing our working relationship with Carlyle, and to developing a long and mutually beneficial relationship.

The German market is one of Europe's more under-penetrated markets with just 0.09 sq ft of storage space per capita which compares to 0.76 sq ft in the UK, 0.24 sq ft in France, 0.24 sq ft in Spain, 0.60 sq ft in the Netherlands and 0.20 sq ft in Belgium. According to the 2022 FEDESSA report, there are just 320 facilities in Germany and 7.6m sq ft of lettable space.

myStorage has seven medium to long term leasehold stores and 326,000 sq ft of MLA¹ in Berlin, Heidelburg, Mannheim, Fürth, Nuremburg, Neu-Ulm and Reutlingen.

The occupancy of the portfolio is 67% with two of the stores having opened in 2021.

Safestore's initial investment in the joint venture is a c. €2.2m equity investment for a 10% share of the JV. Safestore will also earn a fee for providing management services to the JV. The Group expects to earn an initial return on investment of c.15% for the first full year before transaction related costs reflecting its share of expected joint venture profits and fees for management services.

Rotterdam development

Safestore has secured a freehold site in Rotterdam for construction of a 71,000 sq ft MLA¹ store subject to planning.

Rotterdam is one of the major cities in the Netherlands with a population of 588,000 and forms part of the larger Randstad area. The new site forms part of a larger re-development.

With the addition of this site, the total group property pipeline is now at 1.5m sq ft and represents c. 19% of our existing portfolio. Outstanding capital expenditure on the pipeline is £148m.

Notice of results

Safestore will announce its results for the year ended 31 October 2022 on Tuesday, 17 January 2023.

Ends

1 - MLA is Maximum Lettable Area.

Enquiries

Notes to Editors

·      Safestore is the UK's largest self-storage group with 179 stores on 31 October 2022, comprising 130 wholly owned stores in the UK (including 72 in London and the South East with the remainder in key metropolitan areas such as Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Sheffield, Leeds, Newcastle, and Bristol), 29 wholly owned stores in the Paris region, 5 stores in Spain, 9 stores in the Netherlands and 6 stores in Belgium.

·      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 more densely populated 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 90,000 personal and business customers.

·      As of 31 October 2022, Safestore had a maximum lettable area ("MLA") of 7.698 million sq ft (excluding the expansion pipeline stores) of which 6.317 million sq ft was occupied.

·      Safestore employs around 750 people in the UK, Paris, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium.