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Space Maker News14 February 2008 SPACEMAKER ACQUIRES TWO SELF-STORAGE FACILITIES Space Maker (the "Company"), the UK self storage company, today announced that it had acquired two self-storage facilities in South West England for approximately £2.5 million originated by its owner international specialised fund and asset management group Babcock & Brown (ASX: BNB). The facilities, located in Exeter and Plymouth were purchased from Crown Self Storage Ltd. These purchases bring the total number of Space Maker facilities to 12, with 11 located in the South of England and one centre in Leeds. The Company currently has a net lettable area of in excess of 500,000 sqft with a further 70,000 sqft available for future development. Space Maker was founded by the existing management in 2000 and was acquired by Babcock & Brown in September 2007. Dougald McLachlan, COO of Space Maker said, "We are very pleased with the recent acquisition of Crown which will be rebranded Space Maker and will form the platform to extend the Space Maker brand into the South West and West. We will be actively seeking additional sites in the area as we believe there is good growth potential in the region. "Although Self Storage is widely used in the major U.K. cities it is still a relatively new concept in the smaller regional centres. Awareness of the benefits of self-storage is rapidly on the increase but still only a small proportion of the population have used it. We are excited about the prospects for the market and believe that it has some way to grow in the UK and Europe as the concept catches on and we move towards the levels of occupancy seen in more mature markets such as the US and Australia. We are therefore still looking for suitable warehouse type properties across the UK to add to our portfolio, either through purchase or through long leases or shared ownership." Andrew Dawson of Babcock & Brown said, "We welcome this new acquisition as part of Space Maker's expansion plans. At the time of the Space Maker acquisition, Babcock & Brown outlined its intention to grow the business significantly and this transaction represents the first step in that process. The investment was sourced and arranged by Babcock & Brown and this transaction shows the mutual benefits of Babcock & Brown's relationship with Space Maker in this fast growing sector. We are pleased with the progress they have made to date and look forward to making further acquisitions this year." Ends Enquiries: Babcock & Brown +44 20 7203 7300 Notes to Editors: About Space Maker Space Maker is a UK domestic and business self storage company headquartered
in Chiswick, West London. The Company was founded by Dougald McLachlan in January 2000 and is focused on providing high quality
self storage facilities for consumers at sensible prices. In September
2007, international specialised fund and asset management group Babcock
& Brown took a majority stake in Space Maker and will work with management
to continue the growth of the business. About Babcock & Brown Babcock & Brown is an international investment and specialised fund and asset management group with longstanding capabilities in the creation, syndication and management of asset and cash flow-based investments. Babcock & Brown was founded in San Francisco in 1977 and listed on the Australian Securities Exchange on 6 October 2004. Babcock & Brown operates from 30 offices across Australia, North America, Europe, Asia, United Arab Emirates and Africa and has in excess of 1,250 employees worldwide. Babcock & Brown has four operating divisions; real estate, infrastructure and project finance, operating leasing and structured & corporate finance. The company has established a specialised funds and asset management platform across the operating divisions that has resulted in the establishment of a number of listed and unlisted focused investment vehicles in areas including real estate, renewable energy and infrastructure |
