Forum Asset Management and Make Space Announced Joint Venture

Posted by Modern Storage Media on Jan 17, 2024 10:55:32 AM

Forum Asset Management ("Forum") and Make Space Inc. ("Make Space") have announced their strategic joint venture, establishing Forum Make Space ("FMS"), and the launch of their flagship evergreen self-storage fund, the Forum Make Space Storage Fund ("MSSF").

"This partnership with Make Space marks an important moment in Forum's 25-year history and development as a multi-strategy private market asset manager. Forum as an investor seeks asset classes with secular tailwinds and attractive risk-adjusted returns. For over 20 years, the team at Make Space has delivered strong results to their stakeholders, and we look forward to accelerating that growth going forward," said Richard Abboud, Founder and CEO of Forum. "Forum is actively seeking to invest in partnerships with leading private market investment firms and teams across real estate, infrastructure and private equity."

The joint venture leverages the sectoral expertise of Make Space and Forum's institutional-quality asset management, investment, and development experience across real estate asset classes.

"We are excited to announce this strategic partnership with Make Space and the launch of MSSF. This collaboration leverages the strengths of both organizations and underscores Forum's commitment to providing investors with innovative and reliable private investment opportunities," said Tate Abols, Managing Partner, Corporate Development and Private Equity at Forum.

MSSF is an open-ended private REIT that owns and operates a diversified portfolio of 28 high-quality self-storage assets across 5 provinces, representing over $200 million in assets under management and is focused on undersupplied markets within Canada.

"We see tremendous potential for growth in the fragmented and underserved self-storage market, and our partnership with Forum enhances our capabilities to capitalize on these opportunities," said Danny Freedman, co-owner at Make Space. "The launch of MSSF is a commitment to continuing to deliver value to our investors."

MSSF Fund Highlights:

Value-added total return focus, with a 12 - 15% targeted annual total net return to investors.¹
Diversified portfolio of 28 properties located across 5 provinces, and 1.4 million square feet.
MSSF is one of the largest owners of self-storage in Canada with over $200 million of assets under management.
Significant risk-adjusted returns with self-storage having the highest annualized total return and third lowest standard deviation of returns among the major real estate classes.²
Leveraging a 20-year track record in self-storage investments, real estate development and operations and extensive experience in balance sheet investing.
Together, Forum and Make Space manage in excess of C$2.0B and employ over 100 people.

For more information, please visit www.forumam.com.

¹Distributions and the annual total return targets are net of expenses and not guaranteed. The expectation, timing and payment of distributions and the annual total return targets are based on various assumptions and subject to certain risks as outlined in MSSF's confidential offering memorandum which can be requested from a representative at mssf@forumam.com

²Source: NAREIT. Based on Forum's analysis relying upon NAREIT data from 1994 to November 2023.

³Based on Forum figures. See our Impact Management Framework for methodology: Forum's Impact Framework

About Forum Make Space Storage Fund (MSSF):

MSSF, the flagship evergreen self-storage fund of Forum Make Space, comprises a portfolio of 28 assets spread across 5 provinces. With 1.4 million rentable square feet of storage and $200 million in assets under management, it positions MSSF as a leading owner of self-storage facilities in Canada.

About Forum Make Space (FMS):

Established in 2004, Make Space (now FMS) has a 20-year track record in storage asset management, property management, and development. Headquartered in the Greater Vancouver Area, FMS is a leading vertically integrated Canadian self-storage investment platform, managing 37 assets and $275 million in assets under management.

About Forum Asset Management:

Forum is an investor, developer and asset manager operating across North America for over 25 years. Its investment focus includes real estate, private equity, and infrastructure. The enterprise value of assets under management currently exceeds C$1.7 billion.