Safestore
| Location: | Deal size: |
|---|---|
| UK | €60m |
Safestore is one of Europe's leading self-storage providers, offering clean, secure units of varying sizes to which only customers have access. The company became AIM-quoted in March 1998 and experienced rapid growth until 2001, when its management team recognised that it needed access to capital to exploit properly market opportunities in the UK. Bridgepoint had simultaneously identified that one of Safestore's main shareholders wanted to exit the business. Following a formal sale process, Bridgepoint, alongside management, bid successfully for the business and de-listed it in a transaction totalling €60 million in August 2003.
Bridgepoint was particularly attracted to the high growth potential of the UK self-storage market, Safestore's strong and focussed management team and the proven self-storage business model and its scaleable earnings.
In line with management's original strategy of consolidation through selective acquisition, Bridgepoint funded the €294 million acquisition, again via a de-listing, of Mentmore plc in June 2004. Combining both businesses created the largest UK player in self-storage, the number two in Europe and created an opportunity to pursue pan-European expansion through Mentmore's foothold in the French market. In 2005 Safestore's position was further enhanced when it acquired Access Self Storage in France and Storage World in the UK. In March 2007 Safestore successfully floated at a market capitalisation of €674m and an enterprise value of €991m. Bridgepoint retains a significant minority stake in the business.