Shurgard Self Storage Europe SARL, the European affiliate of U.S.-based real estate investment trust Public Storage Inc., has promoted Vincent Mesdom to director of acquisitions. In this newly created position, Mesdom will focus on growing the business, seeking acquisition opportunities across Europe. He’ll report to CEO Marc Oursin, according to a press release.

“I am delighted that Vincent accepted leading our acquisition strategy. I am confident he will help us to continue expand our portfolio,” Oursin said.

Mesdom joined Shurgard in 2009 and has held several senior positions, including market manager (Belgium and Germany), operations-development manager and head of internal audit in Europe. Prior to joining the storage operator, he was an audit manager for KPMG, a professional-service company. He holds a Master of Laws degree from Ghent University in Ghent, Belgium.

Shurgard operates 231 self-storage facilities comprising 1.2 million net rentable square meters in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Its network serves 150,000 customers and employs more than 700 people. It’s listed on Euronext Brussels under the symbol “Shur.”

Based in Glendale, Calif., Public Storage has interests in 2,418 self-storage facilities in 38 states, with approximately 161 million net rentable square feet.