South Africa Self-Storage Operator Stor-Age to Acquire StorTown Portfolio

Update 10/11/17 – Stor-Age intends to move forward with its StorTown purchase by acquiring 99.9 percent of DanCor shares for R145 million. The transaction is expected to occur through subsidiary Roeland Street Investments, according to the source. The StorTown locations will be rebranded under the Stor-Age name.

"Implementation of the transaction will provide Stor-Age with a broader geographical store offering across the city of Durban in locations which are complementary to the existing trading portfolio," Lucas said.

The deal will increase the company’s owned portfolio to 35 locations and 255,000 square meters, according to a Stor-Age press release.

6/8/17 – Stor-Age Property REIT, which operates the Stor-Age Self Storage brand in South Africa, has agreed to acquire the four-property StorTown portfolio from real estate investment company DanCor Properties Pty. Ltd. All the facilities are in the Durban, South Africa, market and will boost Stor-Age’s total gross leasable area (GLA) by 9 percent, according to the source.

The StorTown locations are in the Brackenhill area, the Durban Central Business District and Durban North. The deal will boost Stor-Age’s presence in the local market to five facilities and more than 27,000 square meters of GLA, the source reported.

“We are excited about this acquisition. It aligns with our strategy of targeting quality peers in a fragmented market, with a focus on the four major metropoles in South Africa on a complementary quality level to our existing portfolio," Stor-Age CEO Gavin Lucas said in a statement.

In December, Stor-Age acquired the seven-property portfolio operated by local competitor Storage RSA through its subsidiary Roeland Street Investments. Those facilities are in Cape Town and the Gauteng province.

Founded in 1972, DanCor specializes in commercial and industrial properties in addition to self-storage.

Headquartered in Cape Town and established in 2006 by the Lucas Family, Stor-Age operates a 42-property portfolio, primarily in four South African metropolitan areas, that comprises approximately 318,000 square meters. It’s the operator appointed by Stor-Age Property Fund Managers Pty. Ltd. to manage and market the property portfolio owned by Stor-Age Property Holdings Pty. Ltd., and was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in November 2015.