![[South Africa]Stor-Age Property set to acquire six properties from Storage South Africa](Storage.jpg)
[South Africa]Stor-Age Property set to acquire six properties from Storage South Africa
Development company Stor-Age Property is close to finalizing the acquisition of six properties from Storage South Africa for a total of up to $2.5 million to add 39 500 square metres to the listed self-storage property fund’s portfolio in Gauteng and Cape Town.
The acquisition will also provide the company, which listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange a year ago, with the opportunity to develop a new property in Bryanston.
In addition, the company has concluded negotiations for the acquisition of Somerset West CC that will provide it with a further trading store of 5 500m2 currently operated under licence and the Storage RSA brand.
Stor-Age currently owns and operates a $100 million portfolio of 24 self storage properties covering 183 000m2 in locations across South Africa.
The company also manages an additional 10 self-storage properties in an unlisted portfolio on which it receives property and asset management fees and over which it has a pre-emptive first right of acquisition.
Stor-Age chief executive Gavin Lucas said the acquisitions from Storage RSA were in line with the group’s strategy of consolidating its position through valued adding acquisitions in a fragmented industry.
“RSA presents Stor-Age with the rare opportunity to buy South African self storage properties that complement the location, scale and quality of Stor-Age’s existing portfolio. The acquisition will bulk up our balance sheet in addition to our trading footprint,” he said.
The company continued to roll out its more than R500m development pipeline in the six months to September and opened its new flagship facility in Sunninghill, Johannesburg, in September, the group’s first “Big Box” self storage property in the Sandton area.
“The new $6 million state-of-the-art self storage property marks the next phase of Stor-Age’s organic growth in Gauteng as it signals the group’s debut into the high density northern suburbs,” he said.
Lucas added the expansion of the Gardens and Durbanville properties in Cape Town at a total cost of $3.1 million were nearing completion and two further new high profile stores would come online shortly near the Gillooly’s interchange in Bedfordview in Johannesburg and in Berea in Durban, which would boost the portfolio by a total of 29 000m2.
Stor-Age Property yesterday declared a dividend a share of 43.04c for the six months to September, which was 6.1 percent higher than its forecast in its listing prospectus.
Occupancies increased by 6 900meter squared compared with September last year to an 85.8 percent occupancy rate across the portfolio in September this year.
