Sale of storage firm to net £10 million for Soros

BILLIONAIRE investor and philanthropist George Soros stood to land stg£10 million yesterday from his stake in self-storage firm Safestore, which is being taken over in a management buyout.

The deal will see Safestore directors led by chief executive Stephen Williams take the firm private with backing from private equity firm Bridgepoint.

Besides Mr Soros, whose Real Estate Investors fund owns 25% of Safestore, a clutch of other directors and individual shareholders stand to gain millions from the sale.

Among them is property investor Nigel Wray, the owner of Watford-based Saracens rugby club.

Belazure Acquisitions, the holding company set up for the acquisition, has offered 44p a share.

That values the company at around stg£39.8m, representing a 16.4% premium to the value of its assets. Safestore, which is listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) for junior shares, said the deal recognised the latent value of the business and provided an attractive opportunity for shareholders.

In a statement, the company's independent directors said it was extremely difficult for smaller AIM-listed businesses to provide enough shares for outside investors to purchase unless they were prepared to consider takeover approaches. Chairman Giles Clarke said: "The independent directors have recommended that shareholders should accept this offer because it offers fair value."

Belazure has received the green light for the deal from stakeholders with 67% of Safestore's shares.

Shares in Safestore soared by 20% yesterday, rising 7p to 43.5p, and around 72% higher than the day it first revealed the takeover approach.

The company was listed on AIM in March 1998 after demerging from parent Safeland.

Directors led the company on an aggressive site acquisition programme before refocusing in 2001 to concentrate on becoming a more retail-based operation.