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Arcapita Buying PODS Today, Company Founder Says

Associated Press photo by Chris O'Meara. (File Photo)

The fast-growing Clearwater storage company PODS Inc. is being sold in a transaction that's being signed today, founder Pete Warhurst said.

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By RICHARD MULLINS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 19, 2007

TAMPA - The fast-growing Clearwater storage company PODS Inc. is being sold in a transaction that's being signed today, founder Pete Warhurst said.

After months of negotiation, a Bahrain-based investment company called Arcapita Inc. is buying 100 percent of the company for about $430 million.

"I'm very much content with the transaction, and I'll only be staying on until they find a replacement for me," Warhurst said, adding that he may relax for a year after the deal. "I'm not one to sit still, though, and this is the second company I've built and sold. … All my investors and shareholders have told me, 'When you do something next, you better call me.' "

There's always a chance something may change during the closing process, Warhurst said, but PODS representatives and Arcapita officials are in the Atlanta offices of Arcapita signing papers today.

Warhurst said he likely will sit on a few company boards, work on his family's investments and ponder his next move. He declined to say how much the deal will bring to him personally.

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

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 firm specializes in structuring financial transactions that allow Middle Eastern individuals to invest in foreign companies while following Islamic law that governs what types of deals Muslims may make, Warhurst said.

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

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