New State And Mako Take Stake In Rabco

In mid-March, New State Capital Partners and its portfolio company, Mako Steel, announced that they have made a majority investment in Rabco Enterprises LLC, a full-service provider of self-storage building systems based in Winter Garden, Fla. Together, Mako and Rabco will form a nationwide self-storage solutions company.

“The storage industry has only grown over the past year, and we see that trend continuing,” says Shaun Vasavada, vice president at New State. “As leaders in their respective markets, both Mako and Rabco have a high-touch, asset-light approach that improves the experience for its customers. In fact, the combined company derives north of 80 percent of its business from repeat customers, a testament to the strong service they provide and the lasting relationships they have built.”

Both companies build single-story, multi-level, and custom storage facilities, managing the process for their self-storage company customers from engineering to contracting and on-site installation. Mako has been named “Best Builder” six years in a row by Inside Self-Storage.

The Rabco executive team will retain a stake in the combined operation. Mako Steel CEO Caesar Wright will become CEO of the combined entity, and Emmett Buster Owens III, president of Rabco, will continue with the combined company. Ron Raboud and Larry Cox, owners of Rabco, will remain in advisory roles to the combined business.

“Most self-storage facilities are owned by independent developers, and they will continue to be the core of our customer base,” says Wright. “A recent industry study notes that respondents are clamoring for a nationwide player in the storage facility solution space. With a collective involvement in over 4,000 storage facilities, we are excited to partner with Rabco to become the first nationwide, one-stop solution for our partners all across the country.”

New State was advised on the transaction by Morgan Lewis (legal) and Duff & Phelps (financial). Rabco was advised by Brown Gibbons Lang & Company. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.