Australia’s Storage King Considers REIT Potential

Before going public in Australia, Storage King may pursue a listing in Britain, where it has 20 stores, the The Sydney Morning Herald reports. In the United Kingdom, upcoming legislation would allow the creation of real estate investment trusts (REITs), which would suit the group. The size of the U.K. storage market is close to £10 billion and is considered large enough to accommodate a specific storage REIT market. In Australia, storage REITs are unlikely because only two companies dominate the sub-sector, Millers Storage and Storage King. Last year’s sale of 18 Storage King Facilities to Abacus Storage Fund left Storage King founders David Scanlen and Michael Tate to concentrate on managing the remaining 110 independent operators franchised under Storage King in Australia and New Zealand, and the 20 now in Britain. For more information, visit www.storageking.com.au.