PGIM Real Estate and Pithos Capital have formed a partnership in France to acquire and reposition self-storage properties.
PGIM Real Estate’s European value-add strategy and European asset manager Pithos will engage in property development activities, encompassing acquisitions, conversions and greenfield projects.
The venture, which operates under Swiss-based self-storage brand Zebrabox, has so far secured six assets and has a “strong pipeline of identified acquisitions”, the partners said.
Nabil Mabed, head of France, Spain and Portugal and senior portfolio manager for PGIM Real Estate’s European value-add strategy, said: “European self-storage has strong fundamentals with significant market growth potential, making a traditionally granular sector an attractive opportunity for institutional investors.
“Backed by highly experienced partners Pithos Capital and Zebrabox, we are convinced that France represents a great opportunity to create significant value in this sector and aggregate a compelling sizeable portfolio attractive for core real estate investors looking to diversify away from office and retail or specialised players looking for scale.”
Alexandre Hamaide, managing director and co-founder of Pithos Capital, said: “Self-storage has historically outperformed other real estate asset classes even in the toughest of times, and the French market is very under-supplied versus comparable markets like the UK, presenting a compelling investment opportunity.
“Our investment proposition for Zebrabox is to build an institutional-grade French self-storage portfolio through a programmatic aggregation of assets in targeted geographical locations.”
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