UK property fund manager Moorfield has marked its entry into the UK self-storage sector via the formation of a £100m (€108m) investment partnership with Stor-Age.

Moorfield, as a majority stakeholder in the new joint venture, is investing on behalf of its Moorfield Real Estate Fund IV.

The venture with the South Africa-listed self-storage real estate investment trust aims to build an initial £50-100m portfolio of modern assets in the UK under the Storage King brand, Stor-Age’s UK self-storage brand

The venture intends to develop self-storage assets with a focus on London and the South East.

Moorfield said the venture is in talks to buy a number of assets, including development sites, developments and existing investment assets.

Marc Gilbard, CEO of Moorfield, said: “As a specialist alternative real estate investor with a track record of generating strong returns from the timely recognition and discerning exposure to sectors benefitting from changing demographic and societal change, the UK self-storage sector is a natural fit for our investment portfolio.

“Replicating the strategy of our recent nursing and dementia care-home partnership, we have selected a best-in-class partner whose operational and origination expertise will enable us to both access the sector and then scale a portfolio in a meaningful way.

Gilbard said self-storage as an asset class has been one of the more resilient during this period of uncertainty and is set to benefit from a number of favourable structural trends, and with a strong pipeline of assets already identified.

Steven Horton, executive director of Stor-Age, said: “We are delighted to have formed a partnership with Moorfield in order to execute our strategic growth plans in the UK over the medium-term.

“The UK self-storage industry presents a significant and attractive growth opportunity and we remain encouraged by the consistent performance of the Storage King business this year, despite the backdrop of uncertainty and a muted economic environment as a result of COVID-19.”

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