Brookfield, GIC Complete $4.8B Acquisition of Australia’s National Storage REIT

Brookfield and GIC have completed their A$6.7 billion ($4.8 billion) acquisition of Australia’s National Storage, closing what the buyers described as the largest-ever take-private of an ASX-listed REIT.

The closing follows a deal struck in December, when Canada’s Brookfield and Singapore sovereign fund GIC secured backing from the National Storage board for an all-cash offer of A$2.86 per unit, valuing the self-storage giant at A$4 billion on an equity basis and implying an enterprise value of A$6.7 billion with debt included. Brookfield is investing through its opportunistic real estate strategy.

The buyers said Friday that National Storage unitholders have received their cash, with Brookfield and GIC taking ownership of Australia and New Zealand’s largest owner-operator of self-storage facilities. The REIT’s portfolio comprises more than 300 self-storage centres serving over 100,000 residential and commercial customers.

“National Storage represents the type of market-leading growth platforms we look to invest in across Asia Pacific and where we can drive operational enhancement and accelerate growth,” said Ankur Gupta, head of Asia Pacific and Middle East real estate at Brookfield.

New Benchmark

The deal overtakes Brookfield’s own A$1.3 billion purchase of senior living operator Aveo in 2019 as the largest real estate privatisation in Australia. Last year the Toronto-based group sold Aveo to The Living Company, the parent of student housing specialist Scape, for A$3.85 billion in Australia’s biggest direct real estate deal ever. 

For GIC, the transaction deepens an existing relationship with National Storage after the $936 billion fund previously partnered with the REIT through a joint venture. Mingtiandi reported in June 2024 that the partners planned to deploy A$270 million in total capital during the first 12 to 18 months of the partnership, known as the National Storage Ventures Fund. 

“We have been investing in Australia’s self-storage sector for a few years, having identified it as a resilient sector with significant opportunity for industry consolidation,” said Kishore Gotety, head of ex-China Asia real estate at GIC. “It will also continue to benefit from the rising demand for living and storage space.”

Brookfield acquired US-based Simply Self Storage in 2016 for $830 million and grew the portfolio from 90 facilities to more than 200 before selling the platform to Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust in 2020 for $1.2 billion. Brookfield currently owns Hong Kong’s RedBox self-storage with seven locations.

In Australia, Brookfield’s platforms include student housing operator Journal Student Living, which in March reached structural completion of a 1,010-bed purpose-built property in Melbourne. In logistics, the Canadian giant plans to grow its overall portfolio to A$2.5 billion after adding a western Sydney estate in 2024.

Brookfield is also nearing the sale of half-stakes in a pair of office buildings in Sydney’s central business district for A$450 million, according to an account in The Australian. The prospective buyer of the assets at the World Square complex is local fund manager Centuria, with Brookfield having marketed the properties at 680 George Street and 50 Goulburn Street since last year.

Scaling in Mini-Sheds

The National Storage deal comes as institutional investors step up bets on self-storage platforms across Asia Pacific, drawn by resilient cash flows, fragmented ownership structures and demand tied to urbanisation and rising housing density.

Warburg Pincus-backed StorHub is said to be raising capital at a valuation of more than $1.5 billion, as the Singapore-based self-storage operator explores expansion opportunities across APAC after a series of acquisitions and development projects. StorHub entered Australia in 2024 with five locations in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra.

Asset management titan BlackRock entered the Aussie self-storage market last May by picking up a majority stake in StoreLocal, a A$440 million platform with more than 40 owned and managed assets across the country. StoreLocal earlier this year purchased a portfolio of five Perth properties from entities controlled by Blackstone.