Warburg Pincus-backed StorHub has bought Storage PLUS, a premium self-storage provider in Japan from Ichigo.

StorHub said the transaction, which adds about 390 stores to StorHub’s network in Japan, represented one of the largest self-storage M&A transactions ever in Japan but it did not disclose the price of the deal.

Dan Morisaku, Ichigo’s head of business promotion and founder of Storage PLUS, said: “Following a strategic review process, we believe StorHub is the ideal partner to lead the next phase of growth of Storage PLUS and deliver greater value to our customers.�

Mike Hagbeck, chief executive officer of StorHub, said: “In recent years, the Japan market has witnessed robust growth in self-storage demand. We are excited about the opportunities to bring our 20 years of experience and expertise in self-storage to a broader range of customers across the market.�

In 2020, StorHub entered the Japan market through the acquisition of Tokyo Reise Box which was later rebranded as ROOT StorHub.

StorHub, founded in 2003 in Singapore, is a pioneer in Asia’s self-storage industry. Since Warburg Pincus acquired the company four years ago from CapitaLand, StorHub has acquired and developed approximately 440 stores, becoming Asia’s leading self-storage platform with more than 70,000 storage units across Australia, Greater China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, and South Korea.

The storage platform aims to amass a portfolio of up to US$5bn (€4.7bn) of assets via organic and M&A growth in the coming years with the plan of an eventual initial public offering.

Li Fan, managing director of Warburg Pincus and board director of StorHub, said: “We believe Asia’s self-storage industry is approaching an inflection point and is poised for accelerated growth in the coming years.

“StorHub is well-positioned with a best-in-class management team and an unmatched value proposition to capture the tremendous growth opportunities ahead.�

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