Travers Smith has advised Safestore Holdings plc, a long-standing client and one of Europe's largest owners and operators of self-storage with properties in the UK, France, Netherlands, Spain and Belgium, on its 50/50 joint venture with Nuveen, a leading global asset manager, to acquire Easybox, Italy's second largest self-storage operator by number of stores, for €175m.
The joint venture will acquire Easybox's ten complete stores and two turn-key developments across Italy's main economic regions, with a total maximum lettable area of 780k sq. ft. The existing facilities are modern and fitted out to high specifications, while the turn-key developments are expected to be delivered in H1 2025.
With the lowest supply of self-storage space per capita in Western Europe, Italy is a nascent market for self-storage facilities, and this acquisition creates a great opportunity for expansion within the sector in one of Europe's largest economies.
The Travers Smith team on this joint venture was led by our Senior Partner Andrew Gillen, supported by Corporate Associate Jonathan Fritz. Our Corporate team was closely supported by specialists from across the firm, including Senior Counsel Richard Offord on commercial matters, and Partner Danny Peel, Senior Associate Adam Burk and Associate Alex Holland on finance matters.
