APAC Self-Storage Player Storhub Raising Cash for Expansion

Storhub is in talks with potential backers for a capital raise as institutional investors show increasing appetite for the do-it-yourself warehousing market, according to sources familiar with the discussions who spoke with Mingtiandi.

The potential equity sale by Warburg Pincus-backed Storhub is seen allowing the Singapore-based company to further expand its regional platform as operators compete to serve the storage needs of increasingly wealthy consumers around Asia Pacific

The talks with prospective capital partners follow a series of acquisitions and investments by Storhub, which welcomed former Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (OTPP) executive Raju Ruparella as its chief executive in 2024, with the company now operating in six countries around the region. Discussions are understood to still be preliminary, with a valuation for the company potentially reaching $1.5 billion.

Storhub’s investment discussions come just one month after Brookfield Asset Management and Singapore’s GIC offered to buy out Australia’s National Storage in a deal which values that company at around A$4 billion ($2.6 billion).

Growth Through Acquisitions

Warburg Pincus helped lead the S$180 million (then $132.4 million) acquisition of Storhub from CapitaLand in 2019 before the Singapore-focused company embarked on a programme to transform itself into a regional operator. 

Storhub representatives declined to comment on the deal discussions when contacted by Mingtiandi. A Warburg Pincus spokesperson would not comment on the investment talks, but said the company, “…is confident in the potential of Asia Pacific’s self-storage market and remains committed to the ongoing growth and success of Storhub.” 

Storhub entered the Australian market in March 2024, with an acquisition which gave it five assets spanning 56,210 square metres (605,000 square feet) of gross floor area in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra. At the time the company pledged to invest $300 million to build its Australia presence, following up in November that year with a $72 million acquisition of three Sydney properties. 

That Aussie expansion came after Storhub acquired Japan’s Storage Plus Corp in September 2023, giving the company 35 locations and around a 100,000 square foot footprint in Asia’s second largest economy. 

Earlier in 2023 Storbhub entered Malaysia by acquiring local player Flexi Storage, and in February that year acquired Mandarin Self-Storage in Singapore from US fund manager Heitman for an estimated S$230 million (then $172.2 million). During 2023 the company also brought on board Patrick Vanderpool, formerly a division vice president with the world’s largest mini-shed player, Public Storage, to serve as chief operating officer. 

With the company having earlier expanded into South Korea, mainland China and Hong Kong. Storhub now operates more than 80,000 storage units across 7.2 million square feet of gross floor area, according to its website.

Self-Storage Competition Heats Up

Storhub’s fundraising effort is seen receiving a boost from Brookfield and GIC’s deal to take over National Storage last month, with that deal representing Australia’s largest ever privatisation of a listed company, should it be completed. 

That Aussie deal came after Extra Space Asia, a self-storage platform controlled by Singapore’s CapitaLand Investment said in October that it would be investing nearly S$100 million to fund the development of its first build-to-suit project in Singapore, as well as to acquire three facilities in Tokyo.

 

In July, Barings announced its acquisition of a majority stake in Brisbane-based Swift Storage for A$200 million, with that deal giving the US fund manager a portfolio of 15 self-storage centres and development projects across Queensland. 

A November study published by JLL and the Self Storage Association Asia showed that most self-storage operators in Asia Pacific expect sustained rent increases of 5 to 15 percent in the medium term.