Starwood provides €240m self-storage loan to Rafter Group

As reported in Green Street News by Mark Mwaungulu, Chris Borland

Facility will be used to refinance standing assets and expand Rafter in France
and Spain

• What Starwood Capital has provided a €240m loan to Rafter Group
• Why To facilitate Rafter’s growth plan in Madrid and Paris
• What next Rafter aims to build a €2bn self-storage portfolio

Miami Beach-based alternative lender Starwood Capital has originated a €240m
loan to self-storage specialist Rafter Group, to grow Rafter’s presence in France
and Spain, Green Street News can reveal.

The five-year loan will be allocated to Rafter’s Lockall and Storemore platforms.
In Madrid, Storemore has developed its portfolio from a single asset acquired in
2021 to a total of seven assets totalling more than 25,000 sq m (269,097 sq ft)
of net lettable area. In Paris, Lockall has a portfolio of nine assets exceeding
60,000 sq m (645,834 sq ft) of net lettable area.

The loan will be used to partly refinance the firm’s existing assets and to provide
development financing for its proposed projects in Paris and Madrid.
Will Lawler, vice president at Starwood Capital Group, told Green Street News:
“We are delighted to support Rafter in its growth strategy in the highly attractive
markets of Madrid and Paris.

“Storemore and Lockall have proven their ability to deliver best-in-class assets
and service with outstanding operational excellence. This partnership is a
continued sign of our confidence in the self-storage sector across Europe.”
Rafter is the topco for the self-storage businesses built by Metric Capital
Partners, across six countries in Europe: the UK; Spain; France; Germany;
Poland; and the Czech Republic. With more than 60 stores secured in those
markets, Rafter is progressing towards a platform with an end value
approaching €2bn.

Simon Loveridge, chief financial officer at Rafter, told Green Street News: “This
takes our total debt raised in the past 12 months to over €0.5bn, which is further
evidence of the growing institutional appetite for the self-storage market in
Europe.”

The latest facility follows a £200m refinancing package that the firm received
from Chicago-based alternative lender Nuveen in April. This particular facility
was secured against Rafter’s UK and German self-storage assets, while also
providing the capacity to build out the portfolio of more than 20 stores across
both markets, with that pipeline already progressed.

Rafter was advised by JLL on its latest debt facility.