A pack of bidders are circling Access Self Storage, a privately held network of sites which has been put up for sale for more than £1bn.
Sky News understands that the private equity firms TPG and Aermont, the latter of which owns a controlling stake in Pinewood Studios, and Belgian-listed self-storage group Shurgard are among the parties which submitted non-binding offers for Access earlier this week.
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Sources said that QuadReal Property Group, a Canadian-based property investor, might also be among the bidders.
The auction, which is expected to fetch well over £1bn, is being handled by bankers at JP Morgan.
Blackstone, the world’s most prolific investor of private equity capital into real estate assets, has decided not to bid after examining the opportunity, according to one insider.
It comes at a time of frenetic corporate activity in the self-storage sector, with a string of deals having been announced in the last 12 months.
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London-listed Lok ‘n’ Store was bought by Shurgard last spring in a deal worth close to £380m.
The two biggest players in the UK market are Safestore and Big Yellow.
A deal is expected to be struck in the coming months.
None of the parties contacted by Sky News would comment on Friday.
