Safestore Holdings plc Safestore acquires remaining share of Benelux JV (6761G)
31 March 2022 - 5:00PM
UK Regulatory
TIDMSAFE
RNS Number : 6761G
Safestore Holdings plc
31 March 2022
31 March 2022
Safestore Holdings plc ("Safestore" or "the Group")
Safestore acquires remaining 80% share of Benelux Joint
Venture
Safestore is pleased to announce that it has acquired the
remaining 80% of the equity owned by Carlyle Europe Realty (CER) in
the Joint Venture formed in 2019 ("the Joint Venture"). The total
consideration paid to Carlyle was EUR67m. The total initial cash
outflow is EUR139m and includes the share purchase (EUR67m),
refinancing of the existing borrowings (EUR67m), transfer tax and
other deal costs (EUR5m) and was funded from the Group's existing
loan facilities. The Joint Venture was acquired based on an
enterprise value of EUR146m.
The Joint Venture was setup in 2019 to acquire and develop
assets in The Netherlands and Belgium in order to leverage
Safestore's operating platform outside our core markets. Since
then, the Joint Venture has grown to a portfolio of 55,000 square
meters (592,000 Sq Ft) of MLA which is currently 74% occupied.
The portfolio is made up of fifteen high quality properties
(twelve freehold properties, two ground leases and one leasehold
property). Nine properties are located in the Netherlands, six of
which are concentrated in the Haarlem / Amsterdam area with
additional properties in The Hague, Het Gooi and the recently
opened Nijmegen store. In Belgium, two stores are located in the
Brussels area, two in the city of Liege and further properties in
Nivelles and Charleroi. Safestore has managed the properties since
acquisition by the Joint Venture
The Group's investment is expected to be marginally accretive to
Group earnings per share in FY2021/22 and will support the Group's
future dividend capacity. The expected initial yield based on total
enterprise value is 3.9%(1) which we expect to grow to Safestore's
normal returns hurdles as the portfolio matures. Post transaction,
the Group's LTV will increase to 31%. Financing capacity under our
RCF and Shelf facilities, combined with our cash reserves, is
expected to be c. GBP219m following this transaction.
Safestore CEO Frederic Vecchioli commented:
"Combining Safestore's highly scalable operating platform and
development experience with Carlyle's investment expertise proved
to be a successful partnership. We are now exploring further
opportunities to work together."
Marc-Antoine Bouyer, Managing Director on the Carlyle Europe
Realty advisory team, commented:
"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."
This announcement contains inside information as defined in
Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 as
incorporated into UK law pursuant to the European Union
(Withdrawal) Act 2018. Following publication of this announcement,
this information is now considered to be in the public domain.
Ends
Notes
1. For these purposes, Initial Yield is defined as EBITDA after
leasehold rent divided by the total investment on a stand-alone
basis including deal costs and real estate transfer tax.
Enquiries
Safestore Holdings plc 020 8732 1500
Frederic Vecchioli, Chief Executive Officer
Andy Jones, Chief Financial Officer
www.safestore.com
Instinctif Partners
Guy Scarborough / Bryn Woodward 020 7457 2020
Notes to Editors
-- Safestore is the UK's largest self-storage group with 162
stores at 31 January 2022, comprising 129 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 and 4 stores
in Barcelona
-- 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 80,000 personal and business customers.
-- As at 31 January 2022, Safestore had a maximum lettable area
("MLA") of 7.067 million sq ft (excluding the expansion pipeline
stores) of which 5.708 million sq ft was occupied.
-- Safestore employs around 700 people in the UK, Paris and Barcelona.
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