Iron Mountain Agrees to Acquire Crozier Fine Arts

Iron Mountain Incorporated(R) IRM, the storage and information management company, today announced its intention to acquire Crozier Fine Arts, a storage, logistics and transportation firm for high-value paintings, photographs and other types of art belonging to individual collectors, galleries and art museums. The transaction includes four storage facilities totaling nearly 500,000 square feet and is expected to close by Dec. 1, 2015, pending the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Based in New York, Crozier is a leader in art storage and an industry advocate for worldwide standards. The company provides services that support the art management lifecycle from initial purchase to final sale, including secure storage, climate-controlled vaults, viewing areas, consultation, installation and project management services, and international shipping capabilities for art industry professionals and collectors all over the world. While Iron Mountain is best known for its data storage and management services, the company has a legacy of providing tailored services and facilities for preserving unique, high-value items such as films, photographs, music recordings and historical archives. Iron Mountain provides services and solutions that include climate-controlled facilities; digitization and conversion services; services for restoring damaged or decaying items; and highly-secure transportation. As the industry leader in storage, preservation and information management services, Iron Mountain is a sponsor and member of several industry organizations and standards bodies, including Professional Records and Information Services Management International (PRISM), ARMA International, the PCI Security Standards Council, and the National Association for Information Destruction. "Our customers trust us to protect and manage their information and other critical assets, and we believe that this trust is transferrable to the fine arts world," said William L. Meaney, president and CEO of Iron Mountain. "This acquisition is not only aligned with our brand, but it supports our strategy to leverage our real estate network to accelerate the growth of the company. Founder Bob Crozier has built a great company, and his team is the best at what they do. We're excited to welcome them to Iron Mountain and look forward to delivering on the high standards for service and expertise that their customers expect." The US$900 million fine art storage industry is a growing, but fragmented industry marked by increasing international interest and changes in acquisition and purchasing habits by collectors and museums. The rise (and availability) of contemporary art as a focus for collectors has caused a spike in storage needs, while the increase in auction "turnover" -- the rate at which catalogs, collections and individual pieces are made available for auction -- has heightened the need for transportation, shipping, and related services. Taken together, these factors have the fine arts storage industry poised for significant growth. "Our customers have long trusted Crozier for our careful approach to storage and our well-established relationships in the world of fine arts, " said Bob Crozier, founder of Crozier Fine Arts. "From our humble beginnings in SoHo in 1976 to today, Crozier has strived to provide the best and most complete fine art storage and retrieval services to both artists and art lovers alike. Joining a company like Iron Mountain that has its own reputation for protecting valuable assets will enable us to expand our reach in a way we wouldn't have been able to do on our own."