Heitman Acquires Majority Stake in Swedish Self-Storage Operator

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Heitman LLC (“Heitman”), a global real estate investment management firm, today announced the acquisition of a majority stake in the third largest self-storage operator in Sweden – Servistore. The business has 31 sites (25 operational and 6 due to open) across 14 cities. It encompasses over 4,000 units, spanning a total of 330,000 square feet of storage space.

This transaction, made on behalf of Heitman’s European value strategy, allows the firm to continue investing in the rising global demand for self-storage. It follows the firm’s previous self-storage platform acquisitions across Europe, including in Ireland in 2022, Germany in 2021 and the UK in 2020. Heitman has been investing in self-storage globally since 1996 and currently manages more than 600 self-storage assets, representing $7.8 billion.¹

“Heitman has a history of investing in self-storage assets globally for nearly three decades. The relationships and expertise cultivated over that time drives our ability to identify and acquire off-market opportunities in Europe, which we believe is a core differentiator for Heitman,” said Tony Smedley, Managing Director and Head of European Private Equity at Heitman. “That dynamic is evident in this transaction, where the team was able to source the investment off-market.”

A key differentiator of the Servistore business is the focus on technology to operate stores on an unmanned basis. Heitman intends to leverage this to scale in the Swedish market, and enhance the business further by boosting operating procedures, such as installing revenue management software and strengthening ancillary service offerings like insurance sales.

“We are delighted to bring our experience of operating €2.7 bn self-storage across Europe to the Servistore platform and to partner with its CEO, Ivan Elgstrand, whose technology-led approach to self-storage has created an innovative business,” said Caleb Mercer, Managing Director for Heitman’s European real estate investments and Portfolio Manager for the Heitman European value-add fund series. “The Swedish self-storage sector has among the best fundamentals in Europe, combining strong population growth with high urbanisation rates and mobility of households. We look forward to establishing Servistore as a market leader under our ownership.”

ABOUT HEITMAN:

Heitman is a global real estate investment management firm with $48 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2024. Founded in 1966 and globally headquartered in Chicago, with European headquarters in London, Heitman has 10 offices worldwide and is an active participant in the global real estate property and capital markets. Heitman makes real estate investments through private equity, debt, and publicly-traded real estate securities.

¹ As of December 2024