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Buyout In Works, Not Done, PODS Says

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By RICHARD MULLINS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 6, 2007

TAMPA - The portable storage unit company PODS could be bought soon by a Bahrain-based investment company called Arcapita, according to PODS officials.

Some news reports, however, about a potential deal are "dead wrong," said Peter Warhurst, founder of the Clearwater-based PODS Enterprises Inc.

Here's what's correct, he said:

PODS is negotiating a deal for an investment by Arcapita Inc., a company that has invested in a wide range of U.S. and international firms. PODS also has received a procedural approval for such a deal from the Federal Trade Commission, which typically reviews deals for antitrust concerns.

Here's what's wrong in news reports, he said.

•The transaction has not closed, Warhurst said. A local report cited the Web site TheDeal.com that PODS was bought Nov. 14, and that is not correct, he said. No deal has closed, and Warhurst said he hopes any deal to acquire the company would close by the end of the year.

•Also incorrect were any reports that the purchase price was $443 million, Warhurst said. "It's just not accurate," he said, though he declined to say what the purchase price might be.

That said, Warhurst has expressed a desire earlier this year to give some of his early investors some flexibility to recoup investments they made that helped with PODS' meteoric growth.

Founded in 1998 as Portable On Demand Storage, it was originally conceived as a small storage and delivery company. Since then, it has grown to have more than 128,000 iconic white storage pods in service, a projected $340 million in revenue this year and more than 110 franchises in the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia.

Warhurst would remain in charge after any deal, he said, and PODS would continue toward his goal of becoming a major global brand akin to FedEx or UPS. "Besides moving and storage, I want the American housewife to know that if she sells a pair of Jet Skis on eBay, that she can call on PODS to ship them anywhere in the world," Warhurst said.

Arcapita is a relatively smaller and younger investment firm compared with major buyout funds such as The Carlyle Group or Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., though it is growing quickly.

With offices in Bahrain, Atlanta, London and Singapore, Arcapita lists $3.8 billion in assets. Its chairman, Mohammed Abdulaziz Aljomaih, is described in company literature as chairman and president of Aljomaih Holding Co., a corporation with holdings in General Motors Co., Pepsico Inc., Shell and Fiat.

The company's advisory board lists several prominent U.S. business people, including R. Glenn Hubbard, dean of Columbia University's graduate school of business, and Wyche Fowler Jr., former U.S. senator and ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

The company's investments span a wide variety of industries, including U.S. factory outlet shopping centers, real estate developments and home health care companies. In December last year, it bought Viridian Group PLC, an electricity supplier in Northern Ireland, for about $4.2 billion. Officials with the company could not be reached Wednesday.

Reporter Richard Mullins can be reached at rmullins@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7919.

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