HIG Capital has entered Italy's self-storage sector with the acquisition of five facilities in Milan and Rome, expanding its European real estate footprint into a third country. The move comes as the $70 billion alternative investment firm doubles down on operationally driven real estate plays across the continent.
Operating under the Boxengo brand, the new platform targets Italy's two largest metropolitan areas with a portfolio split between four Milan properties and one Rome location. Two Milan facilities are slated to open by December 2025, while the remaining three will launch throughout next year.
William Binella, a 25-year industry veteran, will run the operation as chief executive. His appointment signals HIG's intent to apply tested operational strategies from its existing British and German self-storage platforms to the Italian market.
Platform Approach Gains Momentum
The Italian launch fits within HIG's recent European real estate activity, which has concentrated on sectors where operational expertise can drive returns. Over recent months, the firm acquired logistics assets in French metropolitan areas and a life sciences campus in Cambridge, each sharing characteristics of undersupply and complexity that favor active management.
Riccardo Dallolio, who heads HIG Realty in Europe, described self-storage as "operationally intensive and undersupplied," pointing to market conditions that favor consolidators with operational capabilities. The comment underscores a calculated approach to sectors where fragmentation creates acquisition opportunities and where management improvements can enhance asset values.
Italy represents relatively untapped territory for self-storage compared to more mature markets. Per-capita availability lags significantly behind the United States and the United Kingdom, creating room for operators who can establish early market positions. Milan and Rome offer population density and housing constraints that typically correlate with storage demand, though Italian consumer behavior toward self-storage remains less established than in Anglo-American markets.
Alessio Lucentini, managing director for asset management at HIG Realty in Europe, emphasized building "a next-generation, operationally innovative self-storage platform built on high-quality assets." The language suggests plans to differentiate through technology, customer experience, or both—common strategies as self-storage operators seek to move beyond commodity positioning.
Deployment Pace Continues Despite Market Headwinds
HIG's Italian venture arrives during a period of sustained activity across its investment strategies. The firm, founded in 1993 by Sami Mnaymneh and Tony Tamer, has maintained deployment momentum despite macroeconomic uncertainty and elevated financing costs that have slowed some competitors.
Recent transactions span multiple sectors and geographies. HIG paid up to CAD $400 million for 4Refuel, a Canadian mobile fueling company, closing that deal in July. Earlier in 2025, the firm combined IT solutions providers Converge Technology Solutions and Mainline Information Systems into Pellera Technologies, creating an entity with approximately $4 billion in annual revenue serving enterprise technology needs.
The firm also formalized its secondary market strategy by launching a GP Solutions Platform, recruiting a team from Morgan Stanley's private equity secondaries group. That initiative, led by Managing Director Dan Wieder alongside Managing Director Yash Gupta and Principals Austin Gerber and Joe Holleran, will focus on GP-led continuation vehicles and similar structures that have grown in prominence as traditional exit routes have narrowed.
These moves reflect tactical flexibility—pursuing consolidation opportunities in fragmented industries, executing corporate carve-outs, and building positions in alternative liquidity solutions. Each approach offers paths to deploy capital without relying heavily on leverage or near-term exit markets.
European Real Estate Remains Priority
Self-storage represents one element within a broader European real estate strategy. HIG has pursued platforms that combine property ownership with operational businesses, betting that integrated models will outperform pure-play landlords. The approach requires more hands-on involvement but potentially offers better downside protection and multiple value creation levers.
Success in Italy will depend partly on whether Boxengo can adapt practices from HIG's British and German operations to local market conditions. Regulatory frameworks differ across European jurisdictions, as do consumer preferences and competitive landscapes. Early market entry offers advantages, but execution will determine whether those advantages translate into sustainable market positions.
HIG manages capital across seven investment strategies, including private equity, growth equity, real estate, direct lending, infrastructure, special situations debt, and growth-stage healthcare. The firm operates from 19 offices globally, with European presence in Hamburg, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, and Paris. Since its inception, HIG has invested in more than 400 companies, with its current portfolio comprising over 100 businesses generating combined sales exceeding $53 billion.
The Italian self-storage launch shows HIG continues finding deployment opportunities despite a challenging environment for private capital. Whether the approach delivers expected returns will become clear over the coming years as the platform scales and as broader real estate fundamentals evolve. For now, the firm appears committed to the thesis that operational complexity creates opportunity in undersupplied European markets.
