激进投资者 Ancora 入股英国最大自助仓储公司 Big Yellow 逾4%，施压其启动出售程序

Activist investor Ancora Holdings Group has built a stake in UK-listed Big Yellow Group Plc and is pushing the self-storage company to explore a sale, according to a presentation reviewed by Bloomberg News.

Ancora said Big Yellow has a resilient business model but has been materially undervalued in the public market, the presentation said.

The investor believes that Big Yellow can deliver value to shareholders by launching a comprehensive strategic review, including a sale process, and soliciting interest from potential strategic and financial buyers, the presentation said.

Ancora has built a stake of more than 4% in Big Yellow and plans to engage constructively with the company’s board, according to people close to Ancora who requested to not be named because the information isn’t public.

James Chadwick, president of Ancora Alternatives, plans to unveil its position and campaign as soon as Tuesday at the Sohn San Francisco Investment Conference, the people said.

“We believe [Big Yellow] is an attractive asset for both financial sponsors and strategic acquirers given the company’s relative cheapness compared to US storage REITs and the scarcity value of [Big Yellow’s] scaled UK portfolio,” the presentation said.

A representative for Big Yellow didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. A representative for Ancora couldn’t be reached for comment.

Big Yellow, based in Surrey, UK, is the largest self-storage company in the country and has locations in London and the Southeast. In May, it reported annual revenue of £209.1 million ($276 million) for 2026, which increased 2% over the prior year and was the highest in five years.

Shares of Big Yellow, which have fallen 28% over the past year, closed down 0.3% to £7.99 a share on Monday, giving the company a market value of about £1.6 billion.

Ancora believes Big Yellow is undervalued because of slow UK economic growth, a week domestic housing market and its capital-intensive property development pipeline, according to the presentation. The activist argues Big Yellow’s shares are currently trading at a 40% discount to its net asset value.

Big Yellow, however, can charge higher rents with its prime London-concentrated portfolio and growing customer demand, Ancora said. The investor also pointed to a failed take-private of the company by private equity giant Blackstone Inc., according to the presentation.

Ancora believes that Big Yellow should have pursued a broader sale process and that interest for the company remains strong, which could result in a compelling price. Ancora named a few potential bidders for Big Yellow in the presentation, including investors Heitman, Nuveen and KKR & Co. Inc., as well as self-storage companies Public Storage and Extra Space Storage Inc.

The campaign against Big Yellow is one of its first forays into the UK market for the experienced US activist investor. Cleveland, Ohio-based Ancora, with $12 billion in assets under management, has run more than 30 campaigns in the last six years, including at companies such as Norfolk Southern Corp.

Ancora earlier this year opposed the acquisition of UK-based Advanced Medical Solutions Group Plc by US chemicals company H.B. Fuller Co., calling it value destruction. The merger was later announced in June, and Ancora has since sent in an unsolicited offer to purchase H.B. Fuller’s building adhesives unit for as much as $1.4 billion.