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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