1 November 2017
Safestore Holdings plc
("Safestore" or the "Group")
Completion of Acquisition of Stork Self Storage (Holdings) Limited (trading as Alligator Self Storage) for £56m
Further to the announcement on 25 September 2017, Safestore has today completed the acquisition of Stork Self Storage (Holdings) Limited ("SSSHL"), the eleventh largest self-storage portfolio in the UK with 12 stores (the "Acquisition"). The Acquisition reinforces Safestore's position as the UK's largest self storage group by number of sites with a combined total of 120 stores, 67 of which are in London and the South East.
The SSSHL business, which had pro forma gross assets of £56.4m at 30 September 2016, has been acquired on a debt and cash free basis. The Acquisition has been funded from the Group's existing debt facilities, with the Group's £60m accordion facility converted into a committed revolving credit facility. On a pro forma basis, the Group's Loan to Value ratio following completion of the Acquisition is c.35% compared to 32% at 30 April 2017 (as adjusted on a pro forma basis for the refinancing in May 2017).
The Acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive to Group earnings per share and will support the Group's future dividend capacity.
Further details of the transaction can be found in the announcement of 25 September 2017.
This announcement contains inside information as defined in Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation No 596/2014 and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligation under Article 17 of those Regulations.
For further information, please contact:
Safestore Holdings plc Frederic Vecchioli, Chief Executive Officer Andy Jones, Chief Financial Officer |
Tel: 020 8732 1565 |
Instinctif Partners Mark Reed Guy Scarborough |
Tel: 020 7457 2020 |
www.safestore.com
About Safestore
· Safestore, including SSSHL, is the UK's largest self-storage group with 146 stores, comprising 120 wholly owned stores in the UK (including 67 in London and the South East with the remainder in key metropolitan areas such as Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool and Bristol) and 26 wholly owned stores in the Paris region.
· 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 55,000 personal and business customers (excluding SSSHL).
· As at 31 July 2017, Safestore (excluding SSSHL) had a maximum lettable area ("MLA") of 5.742 million sq ft (excluding the expansion pipeline stores) of which 4.196 million sq ft was occupied.
· Safestore employs around 600 people in the UK and France (excluding SSSHL).
