Self-storage operator Public Storage has moved to buy Simply Self Storage from Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust for $2.2 billion. Demand for storage space has waned from the heights of the pandemic as people return to offices. Some analysts expect more sector consolidation.
Public Storage, which owns more than 2,800 properties, will expand further through Simply’s portfolio, which comprises 127 wholly-owned properties spread across 18 states and in highly populated markets.
“Approximately 65 percent of the (127) properties are located in high-growth Sunbelt markets,” the companies said in a joint statement.
The sale will generate over $600 million in profit, Blackstone said. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2023.
Earlier this year, California-based Public Storage made a hostile bid to acquire smaller rival Life Storage. But in April, real estate investment trust Extra Space Storage announced a $12.7 billion deal with Life Storage.
Simply’s sale comes as Blackstone faces a flurry of redemption requests from its real estate income trust.
Source Aishwarya Nair, Reuters
