By Roshan Thomas and Nikita Maria Jino Dec 8 (Reuters) – Australia's National Storage REIT said on Monday it has agreed to an A$4 billion ($2.65 billion) takeover offer by a consortium backed by Brookfield Asset Management and Singapore's GIC, propelling its shares to a record high. The deal follows National Storage's late-November disclosure that it had received a non-binding proposal from the consortium, which offered NSR shareholders A$2.86 cash per share, a 26.5% premium to NSR's November 25 closing price. The bidders have since completed due diligence and signed a binding deed. The deal drove National Storage's shares to an all-time high of A$2.810 on Monday, making it one of the top performers on the broader ASX 200 benchmark index, which slipped 0.3%. "The bid price remains light relative to the +18% historic average control premium paid for AREIT transactions from 2015 to 2025 but ultimately passes the 'sniff test' given transaction scale, prior relationship with bidder and prospect of limited competitive tension," said John Lockton, head of investment strategy at MST Financial. The buyout also marks the biggest take-private deal of an Australian real estate firm, topping Brookfield's A$1.27 billion purchase of Aveo Group in 2019. "Looking ahead, the most likely place of activity is in the retail sector which is enjoying a renaissance in capital appetite," said James Druce, Head of Research, Singapore and digital infrastructure analyst at CLSA. National Storage, established in 1995, serves residential and commercial customers at over 270 locations in Australia and New Zealand, according to its website. Australia's largest self-storage provider also drew interest from private equity firm Warburg Pincus and U.S.-based Public Storage in 2020, which did not result in a deal. Earlier this year, a consortium led by South African billionaire Nathan Kirsh and Public Storage made an A$2.17 billion bid for local rival Abacus Storage King, but the offer also did not proceed to a deal. The National Storage deal stands out in an otherwise quiet Australian M&A landscape this year, where high-profile proposals such as BHP Group's bid for Anglo American have unravelled. More recently, EQT AB and CVC Asia Pacific ended talks with Australian insurance broker AUB Group over a proposed A$5.2 billion takeover, further underscoring the softness in the market. NSR's board unanimously recommended the deal, saying it will back the transaction in the absence of a superior proposal and subject to an independent expert determining it is in the best interests of security holders. If cleared, the deal is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2026. ($1 = 1.5074 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Roshan Thomas and Nikita Maria Jino in Bengaluru; Editing by Diane Craft)
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