UKREiiF attendee Moorfield Group, a UK-focused real estate fund manager (“Moorfield”), announces that is has acquired a 302,000 sq ft self storage portfolio. The acquisition was made behalf on behalf of its Moorfield Real Estate Fund V (“MREF V”) and through its joint venture with Stor-Age (the “JV”), the South African self storage Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) and owner of leading UK self storage business Storage King.

The portfolio comprises four modern properties with a total gross lettable area (GLA) of 302,400 sq ft.  Strategically located in Banbury (Oxfordshire), Wednesbury (West Midlands), Frome (Somerset) and Amesbury (Wiltshire), the portfolio will be operated by Storage King, which currently provides over 1 million sq ft of storage space across the UK, under its third-party management platform Management 1st.

Three of the properties have been constructed since 2007 and have proven trading histories, with a blended occupancy rate of over 90%. The Amesbury asset is a new, purpose-built facility scheduled to open in April 2022, offering c. 102,000 sq ft of GLA on full fit-out.

The acquisition is the largest to date on behalf of the JV between Moorfield and Stor-Age, which is targeting a further £50 to £100 million of investment in modern, tech-enabled high-profile self storage assets in the UK. Moorfield, through MREF V, is majority investor in the JV, which retains a strong pipeline of additional investment opportunities into subject-to-planning development sites, turn-key developments and established existing assets.

Chris Perera, Senior Investment Manager, Moorfield Group, commented: “This was a rare opportunity to acquire a portfolio of assets in a high barrier-to-entry and fast-growing sector, which has demonstrated its resilience versus almost all other real estate sectors over the past two years and which is ideally placed to benefit from a number of favorable structural trends. The well-located and purpose-built characteristics of the portfolio are fully aligned with joint venture’s investment strategy, which also marries Moorfield’s leading investment expertise with a best-in-class partner with market leading operational and origination expertise.”

Gavin Lucas, CEO of Stor-Age, added: “This acquisition, as well as the manner in which we have funded it, demonstrates the strength, competitiveness, and sophistication of our UK platform. Following closely on the heels of the recently announced McCarthy’s acquisition in Leeds, it was secured after a competitive bidding process, and then seamlessly packaged by introducing optimally matched in-country equity capital from Moorfield and sustainability-linked debt funding from Aviva Investors.”