Global real estate investment management firm announced the acquisition of a majority stake in the third largest self-storage operator in Sweden called Servistore. This business has 31 sites (25 operational and 6 due to open) across 14 cities. It encompasses over 4,000 units, spanning a total of 330,000 square feet of storage space.
This deal, made on behalf of Heitman’s European value strategy, enables the firm to continue investing in the rising global demand for self-storage. It follows the firm’s previous self-storage platform acquisitions across Europe, including in Ireland in 2022, Germany in 2021 and the UK in 2020. And Heitman has been investing in self-storage globally since 1996 and currently manages more than 600 self-storage assets, representing $7.8 billion.
A major differentiator of the Servistore business is the focus on technology to operate stores on an unmanned basis. And Heitman plans to leverage this to scale in the Swedish market, and enhance the business further by boosting operating procedures, such as installing revenue management software and strengthening ancillary service offerings like insurance sales.
KEY QUOTES:
“Heitman has a history of investing in self-storage assets globally for nearly three decades. The relationships and expertise cultivated over that time drives our ability to identify and acquire off-market opportunities in Europe, which we believe is a core differentiator for Heitman. That dynamic is evident in this transaction, where the team was able to source the investment off-market.”
- Tony Smedley, Managing Director and Head of European Private Equity at Heitman
“We are delighted to bring our experience of operating €2.7 billion self-storage across Europe to the Servistore platform and to partner with its CEO, Ivan Elgstrand, whose technology-led approach to self-storage has created an innovative business. The Swedish self-storage sector has among the best fundamentals in Europe, combining strong population growth with high urbanisation rates and mobility of households. We look forward to establishing Servistore as a market leader under our ownership.”
– Caleb Mercer, Managing Director for Heitman’s European real estate investments and Portfolio Manager for the Heitman European value-add fund series
