Group acquires Durban portfolio

STOR-AGE, the listed self-storage real estate investment trust (Reit), has agreed to acquire the Durban-based StorTown portfolio of self-storage assets from the DanCor Properties group. The value of the proposed transaction was not disclosed. The company said yesterday the portfolio comprised four well tenanted and geographically attractive properties in Brackenhill, the Durban central business district and Durban North, and increase Stor-Age’s footprint in Durban to five stores offering more than 27 000m² of storage space. Gavin Lucas, the chief executive of Stor-Age, said the acquisition aligned with their strategy of targeting quality peers in a fragmented market, with a focus on the four major metropoles in South Africa.Lucas said the properties would be rebranded and included into Stor-Age’s operational platform, allowing for the benefit of economies of scale in the greater Durban market.He said the acquisition will increase Stor-Age’s overall portfolio from 31 to 35 properties and boost total gross lettable area by more than 9 percent to about 255 000m². – Roy Cokayne