While a lot of attention has been paid to warehouse and logistics in recent times, another form of storage may be catching the real estate investors in Asia. WHA Group-backed Storage Asia believes self storage is about to enter a boom period and recently kicked off a roadshow as it prepares for an IPO later this month.
Storage Asia currently operates i-Store Self Storage as well as i-StoreGo, a door-to-door storage service, in addition to leasing other space it has available. The organization has 2,200 square meters of space across four locations in Bangkok at the moment but has plans to increase this amount to more than 10,000 square meters over the next three years.
With storage growing in popularity in Thailand, Storage Asia was able to become a market leader thanks in large part to its customer-centric approach. This includes smaller touches, such as the inclusion of wine storage, that allow it to stand apart from competitors.
“For i-Store Self Storage, our locations are in the heart of the city. This makes traveling to them easy. Additionally, we have a variety of room sizes and a team of experts who will always recommend the right room size for customers and help them with anything else they may need,” Khun Pakdee Anivat, CEO and Founder Storage Asia, said. “We also developed a door-to-door storage service business to provide personal storage service for customers who do not wish to come to a facility in person.”
The company will also broaden the services it provides to include storage design and consultancy; storage management; and licensing for unmanned storage facilities. Khun Pakdee noted that 82 percent of revenue is generated from its storage business while 14 percent came from leasing space and another four percent from other offerings.
Storage Asia announces IPO plans at roadshow
Storage Asia recently detailed its intention for an IPO during an event at the Stock Exchange of Thailand. Current plans call of offering 36 million ordinary shares to be issued with this consisting 14.1 percent of the total. The offering is slated to launched on December 22 on the SET’s LiVE Exchange, a secondary market focused on Thai SMEs.
Last year saw fully integrated logistics and industrial facilities solution provider WHA Group acquire a 29.4 percent stake in Storage Asia with the SME Trust also holding a stake in the company. Both are going to retain holdings in the organization after the listing of shares.
Khun Pakdee added money raised from the IPO will allow Storage Asia to further its expansion plans as it looks to go beyond Bangkok. For real estate investors looking for a new opportunity, this IPO is an interesting entry into the self storage market.
