Shurgard to buy Lok’nStore in £378m deal
AIM-listed Lok’nStore has agreed to a £378m takeover by self-storage giant Shurgard.
Shurgard said the acquisition would enable it to increase its footprint outside London, adding some 37 assets in the South East and five in Manchester.
It said: “Lok’nStore’s portfolio of high-quality assets in major cities across the UK gives Shurgard immediate access to attractive underlying market dynamics with strong demographic trends.”
AIM-listed Lok’nStore has agreed to a £378m takeover by self-storage giant Shurgard.
Shurgard said the acquisition would enable it to increase its footprint outside London, adding some 37 assets in the South East and five in Manchester.
It said: “Lok’nStore’s portfolio of high-quality assets in major cities across the UK gives Shurgard immediate access to attractive underlying market dynamics with strong demographic trends.”
The deal adds some 1.7m sq ft of storage space to Shurgard’s 14m sq ft portfolio of 276 sites across seven countries. Some 93% of its portfolio is freehold. The business, which has a focus on tier-one and capital cities, has a market cap of more than £3bn.
Marc Oursin, chief executive at Shurgard, said the acquisition doubled its presence in the UK and “accelerates our growth and expansion strategy”.
“The acquisition brings with it a strong pipeline and development team, which can be leveraged to accelerate new opportunities in London, the South East and Manchester,” he said. “We are excited about our ability to acquire, develop, and expand in the UK alongside our other European markets.”
Lok’nStore chair Andrew Jacobs added: “Lok’nStore’s board believes the offer represents significant value for Lok’nStore’s shareholders, recognising the quality of Lok’nStore’s real estate portfolio and operational strength.
“We believe that integrating Lok’nStore’s assets and operations into Shurgard is highly complementary considering Lok’nStore’s asset locations and positioning in its markets.”
Lok’nStore’s portfolio comprises 43 stores across England and Wales. Some 17 are owned, nine leases and the remainder under management contracts.
The proposed takeover is the latest in a flurry of activity in the self-storage world. Earlier this month, Hold Storage secured £100m of funding from City & Provincial Properties to expand its portfolio across London, while Swiss Life Asset Managers UK said it planned to double its self-storage fund to £260m by the end of this year.
