Baker McKenzie has advised APG Asset Management N.V. ("APG" or "Company"), the investment manager of the largest pension provider in the Netherlands, on its joint venture with CapitaLand Investment Limited ("CLI"), a leading global real estate investment manager with a strong Asia foothold, to establish an Asia-focused self-storage platform.
The joint venture, to which APG and CLI have committed an initial equity investment of SGD 570 million that could potentially go up to SGD 1.14 billion, in the proportion of 90:10, will fund the acquisition of Extra Space Asia ("ESA") and its expansion needs. ESA is one of the region’s largest self-storage businesses with about 70 owned and leased facilities spanning over 1 million square feet of net lettable area across Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei and Tokyo. The acquisition of ESA comes with an experienced management team. Following the acquisition, ESA will be re-positioned into operating company/property company structure to facilitate future expansion.
We understand that the self-storage industry in Asia is supported by strong fundamentals such as high urbanization rates, high population density, an increasing proportion of renters and an explosive growth of e-commerce. With much lower penetration rates compared to the more mature self-storage markets in the USA and Europe, there is a long growth runway for self-storage platforms in Asia. The acquisition of the ESA portfolio will allow APG and CLI to achieve immediate scale across key Asian gateway cities with a strong presence and brand recognition.
The Baker McKenzie team was led by Partner Jason Ng, with support from Hayley Irons, Deanna Liu and Jojo Ha.
Commenting on the deal, Jason Ng, who co-chairs the Global Funds Group said, "We are very pleased to be able to assist our long-standing client APG on another important transaction. This transaction not only provides our client with greater access to Asia's growing self-storage industry, but also meets its environmental performance aspirations."
The deal is the latest example of a high-profile transaction Baker McKenzie has worked on with APG. In November 2021, the Firm advised APG on its launch of CBC Healthcare Infrastructure Platform in partnership with CBC Group. In August 2021, the Firm represented APG on its agreement with ESR Cayman Limited and another global institutional investor, on the formation of the ESR China Development Platform. In April 2021, the Firm advised the Company on its acquisition of a 20% stake in data center platform OneAsia. In 2020, the Firm represented APG on its acquisition of a 10.43% stake in hyperscale data center solution provider Chindata.