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>>> Sovran Self Storage Acquires LifeStorage for $1.3 Billion


Sovran Will Rebrand Itself from 'Uncle Bob's' to 'Life Storage'



By Mark Heschmeyer

July 18, 2016



http://www.costar.com/News/Article/Sovran-Self-Storage-Acquires-LifeStorage-for-$13-Billion/183464


Sovran Self Storage Inc. completed its acquisition of LifeStorage LP, a privately-owned self-storage operator, for $1.3 billion.

Following its acquisition, Buffalo, NY-based Sovran Self Storage plans to rebrand its 563 storage facilities it currently operates as Uncle Bob’s to Life Storage. The REIT also plans to change its corporate name from Sovran Self Storage to Life Storage Inc. and its ticker symbol on the New York Stock Exchange from SSS to LSI.

"The LifeStorage properties are a tremendous addition to our portfolio,” said Sovran CEO David Rogers. "We’ve added 84 Class A stores to our portfolio, 55 of which are in some of our already established key markets. We’ve also gained a presence in two new markets: Las Vegas and Sacramento, CA.”

The newly acquired facilities add 25 properties in Chicago, 19 in several Texas markets, including eight in Austin and five in Dallas, and three each in Orlando and Los Angeles. The acquisition also gives the firm entry into Las Vegas with 17 facilities, and Northern California with 10 facilities, where the company said it plans to pursue the acquisition of additional properties.

The REIT now operates approximately 650 self-storage facilities in 29 states.

The deal highlights the active investor interest the self-storage sector has received recently. This spring, Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management Inc. and its institutional partners acquired Orlando-based Simply Self Storage for about $830 million. Simply Self Storage has over 15 million square feet of storage space with over 192 operating facilities.

Crow Holdings Capital-Real Estate, a Dallas-based asset manager of private equity real estate funds, this month announced it plans to expand its investment activities in the self-storage property sector. As of April 1, 2016, CHC had acquired or provided joint venture development equity for 14 self-storage facilities, representing 9,780 units and nearly 1.1 million net rentable square feet across the U.S.

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