4 questions lodged at 2026 National Storage (NSR) scheme meeting
April 16, 2026
Below is the text of the 4 written questions submitted at the 45 minute National Storage (NSR) hybrid scheme meeting held at 10am in Brisbane on April 15, 2026 and via via the Computershare platform to approve a consortium of Brookfield and GIC paying $2.86 per share or $4 billion for the equity and $6.7 billion including debt. The 278 page scheme book landed on March 10. See notice of meeting. Also, see 6 questions asked at 2024 AGM. The proxies were not disclosed early in the formal addresses and the founder CEO teared up when reading his prepared script at the very end of the meeting. Was the only shareholder asking questions. Deal was comfortably approved.
Q1. What sort of proxy solicitation campaign did we run to encourage our 6,800 shareholders to vote and how many of them voted by proxy? Also, thank you for offering best practice hybrid meetings today to maximise participation. 4 hybrids in a row must be some sort of record. Why did it need 4 separate meetings legally?
Answer: The chair Anthony Keane read the question in full and then read a scripted response. Fair enough reading a lawyer-crafted script about the need to have 4 concurrent hybrid meetings to approve the $4 billion takeover but would prefer a chair to riff on something like voter turnout. “Yeah, 8% wasn't bad in the circumstances”. The script didn't provide the number and just summarised basic procedural stuff without identifying which firm they hired to get out the vote on run the information line. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.
Q2. In takeover situations, you sometimes see non-executive directors paid so-called "exertion payments" given all the additional work required. What was our approach to this issue and exactly how much extra work did this deal generate for the directors? Also, have any of the NEDs or KMP agreed to stay involved with the business under the new owners?
Answer: The chair Anthony Keane read the question in full and then read a scripted response stating that there were no “exertion payments” to directors. The “read the scheme book” response to the question about ongoing gigs was poor. Just summarise who is staying and who is going, if it is known, or say that this will be sorted out once the $6.7 billion takeover closes. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.
Q3. It is very unusual to have a chair-CEO team in place for 12 years and well done indeed for those outstanding shareholder returns laid out in the formal addresses. Is our founder at all sad to be exiting the industry, just like the Miller family did all those years ago and did he ever try to buy Kennards, the last founder-led family left in the Australian self-storage industry? Did Kennard run the numbers on launching a rival bid or was the combined might of the Canadian-Singapore coalition just too big and strong to take on?
Answer: The chair Anthony Keane read the question in full and then read a scripted response when he should have invited National Storage founder Andrew Catsoulis to riff about the Miller and Kennard families. Now that Mark Carney's Brookfield and Singapore sovereign fund GIC have bought his company for $6.7 billion enterprise value, the Kennards are the last family standing. Enjoyed listening to Sam Kennard explaining the growth of their business, including the takeover of Millers, during this recent interview. Watch video of our less illuminating scripted scheme meeting exchange via Twitter.
Q4. Australia is currently in the midst of an unprecedented deluge of takeovers that has contributed to listed entities on the ASX dropping by more than 10% since January 2023 to a nearly 20 year low of 2,042 on March 30, 2026. There were a record 27 major takeovers above $100m completed in 2024-25 and we're headed for a higher number in 2025-26. Why do the chair and CEO believe this is happening? There is a clear mis-pricing between public markets and private markets but is there also a problem with the scrutiny and extra regulation of smaller ASX listed companies, which don't benefit from index investing? Does the chair agree this is a problem for the nation, particularly with so few new floats replenishing the ASX ranks?
Answer: The lawyers and spinners sure had National Storage chair Anthony Keane in a straight jacket. Fancy not offering a personal opinion on this final takeover deluge question! Besides, the question wasn't irrelevant as claimed in the scripted response because it was asking broadly about the current deluge of foreign takeovers, this being one of the biggest we've seen. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.
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