Summary
- Abacus Property has signed a deal to buy the outstanding 75% interest in Storage King.
- Further, the property investment player signed a deal to acquire four Self Storage properties for A$45.1 million with settlement would complete by 2020 end.
- Additionally, ABP settled on six other properties worth A$45.2 million.
Abacus Property Group (ASX:ABP) has announced the signing of an unconditional deal to purchase the outstanding 75% interest in Storage King, the Self Storage operating platform.
A diversified Australian REIT, Abacus Property has an investment portfolio focussed on the Office & Self Storage sectors. In 2005, the Company made its first investment in Self Storage, and since then it has actively accumulated a portfolio of eighty-one sites with a valuation of more than A$1 billion.
Storage King was privately-owned before Abacus bought a 25% stake in the Company in August 2018. The Company managed stores across Australia and New Zealand on behalf of third-party owners, including Abacus. As on 30 June, Storage King was handling more than 170 locations with ~50k customers. The Company had 380 team members, including full-time and part-time employees.
As part of the deal, CEO of Storage King Michael Tate would become a part of Abacus Executive Leadership Team. Mr Tate would drive and raise the Storage King business, with the help of the asset backing plus management assistance of the Company.
Further, Abacus believes that together with Michael Tate it can invest actively and significantly into driving the operations, technological advancement, and customer value proposition of the Storage King branded stores, which are possessed by Abacus and its third-party owners.
A consideration of A$50 million is being made to acquire the remaining Storage King business. The deal is likely to complete by end of November.
Update on Self Storage asset Acquisitions:
The Company also announced that it had signed a deal to acquire four Self Storage properties for A$45.1 million. The settlement of the three existing facilities is expected by the end of 2020.
The acquisition includes:
- Three purpose-built Self Storage facilities situated in Melbourne and Wollongong.
- One development site in Sydney to accommodate a future multilevel facility.
The above acquisitions in Melbourne, Wollongong, and Sydney, fall under the Significant Urban Area as defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
In addition to these transactions, the Company has settled on another six properties worth A$45.2 million.
Stock Information: At AEST 02:31 PM, ABP shares are trading at A$2.850, up 2.888% from its previous close. The Company has a market capitalisation of A$1.84 billion.
