DLA Piper advises MARCOL on EUR250m self-storage joint venture with Angelo Gordon

DLA Piper has advised MARCOL, the private investment group, on the establishment of a joint venture with alternative investment firm Angelo Gordon in the German self-storage market with the launch of Space Plus, headed by European self-storage veteran Russell Jordan.

With a plan to invest EUR250 million in off-market opportunities across Germany, Space Plus targets underperforming retail and commercial assets in high visibility locations that will benefit from redevelopment to unleash latent value. The strategy is to build an industry benchmark self-storage brand, in a country with low market penetration, that leverages cutting-edge technologies and hybrid staffing solutions to maximise operational efficiencies.

To date the company has acquired five assets for conversion, repositioning or redevelopment as new state-of-the-art self-storage facilities adopting the most advanced technology in the sector. The facilities are predominately located in the North Rhine-Westphalia area, the most densely populated region in Germany. The business has secured a further four assets with scope for significant expansion to become a leading self-storage operator in Germany.

The DLA Piper team was led by partners Rob Salter (Corporate, London) and Fabian Mühlen (Real Estate, Frankfurt) and senior associate Richard McGlasham (Corporate, Leeds).

Rebekah Tobias, Head of Business Development, MARCOL, said: “We were delighted to be working with the fantastic team at DLA Piper on this challenging and complex cross-border transaction. This is an optimal time to launch an innovative, new self-storage platform given the increasing demand for the product across Europe. Having assembled a highly experienced team, combined with a truly disruptive business model and the robust growth forecast for the sector, Space Plus is poised to become a predominant player in one of Europe’s most undersupplied markets.”