LifeStorage went back to the well and came back with $300 million.
Citigroup Global Markets and BMO Capital Markets teamed up to extend the new financing to Roseville, CA-based LifeStorage, which will use the money to buy self-storage facilities in the 50 largest U.S. markets. Raymond James Bank also participated in the financing.
“This new financing builds on our excellent momentum and provides us with additional flexibility to continue adding best-in-class, institutional-quality properties to our portfolio,” said Mark Good (pictured at top), CEO of Life Storage.
The new financing is on top of the $100 million revolving line of credit that Citigroup provided to LifeStorage in September. A month later, LifeStorage secured $120 million in equity capital from TPG Real Estate.
In all, LifeStorage has collected more than $500 million in financing and equity within the past year.
Marketplace advantage
Marc Boorstein, a principal at MJ Partners who has worked with LifeStorage on several self-storage deals, said the storage operator has been “a lot more active” recently.
Boorstein said the combined funding gives LifeStorage a competitive advantage over similarly sized operators when it comes to acquisitions. “They can make decisions quicker, get off-market transactions and offer stock,” he said.
The Citigroup-led financing enables LifeStorage to make decisions on its own, rather than getting deals approved by partners, Boorstein said.
Boorstein said he isn’t surprised that LifeStorage picked up more financing.
“Their operations have been very impressive over the last 18 months,” Boorstein said. “Citi sees how they are running their current portfolio and how well they are performing.”
Growth plan
Matthew Greenberger, managing director at Citigroup, said the financing will support LifeStorage’s goal of becoming “the leading brand in the self-storage industry.”
Since its first round of financing last fall, LifeStorage has purchased several facilities in the U.S. In January, for instance, the firm bought two facilities in California from Superior Self Storage for $10.2 million.
The company operates 79 facilities in nine states, according to its website.
In March 2015, LifeStorage hired Ben Carr to lead its acquisition and development program as chief investment officer. Before joining LifeStorage, Carr was vice president of investments at self-storage REIT CubeSmart.
