18 Feb 2020
Story originally on Sparefoot.com.
Public Storage, the largest self storage REIT in the U.S., has made a nearly $2 billion buyout bid for Australia’s National Storage REIT.
National Storage revealed the unsolicited offer from Public Storage in a Feb. 14 news release. The potential deal is valued at $1.9 billion in Australian currency and nearly $1.3 billion in U.S. currency.
In a Feb. 14 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Public Storage confirmed its bid for National Storage.
Public Storage in the SEC filing that it “does not intend to provide additional or ongoing disclosure regarding these preliminary negotiations prior to any execution of a definitive agreement and expressly disclaims any obligation to update this information, except as required by law.”
News of the Public Storage bid emerged less than a month after Hong Kong-based real estate private equity firm Gaw Capital Partners extended a buyout offer for National Storage. The value of Gaw’s bid wasn’t divulged. National Storage said Feb. 13 that discussions with Gaw are ongoing.
In December, Gaw closed on a $2.2 billion fund targeting real estate investments primarily in Australia, China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Vietnam.
National Storage, founded in 2000, owns and operates more than 170 self-storage facilities in Australia and New Zealand. The company went public in 2013. National Storage posted revenue of $159.2 million (Australian currency) in its 2019 budget year, up 14 percent from 2018. As of June 2019, the REIT listed assets totaling nearly $2.4 billion.
As of Sept. 30, 2019, the portfolio of publicly traded Public Storage comprised nearly 2,500 self-storage facilities in the U.S. In addition, the REIT holds a 35 percent stake in Belgium-based Shurgard Self Storage, which owns more than 230 self-storage facilities in seven western European countries.
