Canada's 3rd Largest Self-Storage Acquisition: Accelerating North American Expansion

Public Storage (PSA) has agreed to acquire Public Storage Canada, the third-largest self-storage operator in Canada, for approximately $1.2 billion (about KRW 1.6 trillion). Under the deal, roughly 75 percent of the purchase price will be paid in operating partnership units and 25 percent in cash, with a contingent earn-out of up to $288 million (around KRW 380 billion) payable over the next five years based on achieving specified operating income targets.

The acquisition includes 68 facilities in key markets across four provinces—Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary and Vancouver—with a combined rentable area of about 5.3 million square feet and a current average occupancy rate of approximately 83 percent. Since these properties already operate under the Public Storage brand, rebranding costs are expected to be minimal. By integrating them into its existing operations platform, Public Storage anticipates high single-digit short-term operating income growth in Canada’s under-supplied market, as well as long-term contributions to operating income and funds from operations (FFO) per share.

In March, Public Storage also agreed to acquire U.S. competitor National Storage Affiliates Trust in an all-stock transaction valued at about $10.5 billion, including debt, as part of its strategy to expand through major acquisitions (investors.publicstorage.com). In May, the company declared a regular second-quarter common dividend of $3.00 per share and raised acquisition and general corporate funds through a public offering of corporate bonds (s1.q4cdn.com).

Public Storage is the largest self-storage REIT in the U.S. and a member of the S&P 500, operating more than 3,500 facilities with roughly 250 million rentable square feet across 40 states. It also holds a stake in European self-storage firm Shurgard. Despite a slowdown in growth since COVID-19, the self-storage industry remains fragmented, and large REITs continue to pursue consolidation and scale through M&A, supported by current interest-rate conditions.