SingPost buys Lock+Store for $37 million

AS PART of its strategy to grow its self-storage business, postal service provider Singapore Post (SingPost) is acquiring General Storage Company from Asia Pacific Storage Company for $37 million.

General Storage, which operates a self-storage business under the Lock+Store brand, has facilities in Tanjong Pagar and Chai Chee.

The acquisition will expand SingPost's existing self-storage business, Self Storage Solutions (S3), which offers warehousing, fulfilment, delivery and distribution services. SingPost expects the acquisition to allow it to serve individual customers and small-and-medium enterprises better.

"This acquisition is part of SingPost's transformation initiatives, enabling us to further expand our self-storage business S3, with an experienced and leading operator in this industry. As an extension of our business, self-storage solutions offer synergies with our existing business in logistics and e-commerce," said group CEO Wolfgang Baier. "We expect to further integrate the self-storage business into our core business by adding delivery and other value-added services to storage solutions. This strengthened expertise in self-storage solutions can also potentially benefit our regional partnerships."

In its filing to the Singapore Exchange yesterday, SingPost said that the $37 million will be wholly satisfied in cash and funded from its internal resources.

"The self-storage business is an attractive usage option for the industrial-zoned space of our properties. This acquisition is strategic, paving the way for SingPost to extract greater value from our existing properties," said group chief financial officer Ng Hin Lee.

The acquisition is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of the company's financial year, which ends on March 31, 2013.