Funds management giant BlackRock has bought a controlling interest in $400 million self-storage operator StoreLocal, as major investors battle for a stake in the booming sector.

The deal, first foreshadowed in the Street Talk column last month, has been finalised as elsewhere in the sector a consortium between South African billionaire Nathan Kirsh and New York-listed Public Storage, one of the world’s biggest operators, presses hard on a $1.9 billion takeover offer for the listed Abacus Storage King.