Safestore completes acquisition of Stork Self Storage

Safestore has completed the acquisition of Stork Self Storage, which it announced on 25 September, in a deal that is expected to be immediately accretive to earnings per share and support future dividend capacity.

The company said the acquisition of Stork - the eleventh largest self-storage portfolio in the UK, with 12 stores - reinforces its position as the UK's largest self-storage group by number of sites, with a combined total of 120 stores, 67 of which are in London and the South East.

The business, which had pro forma gross assets of £56.4m at 30 September 2016, has been acquired on a debt and cash-free basis and has been funded from Safestore's existing debt facilities, with the group's £60m accordion facility converted into a committed revolving credit facility.

On a pro forma basis, the group's loan to value ratio following completion of the deal is around 35% compared to 32% at 30 April 2017.

At 1015 GMT, the shares were up 0.6% to 447.80p.