Storage entrepreneur Alister Jack has sold his Armadillo self-storage business to the property and infrastructure arm of HSBC for £40m.

Jack, whose previous self-storage venture, Aardvark Self Storage, sold to Mentmore Spaces for £30m in 2002, received ten expressions of interests and six bids for the company before deciding to accept HSBC's offer and now plans to start work on setting up a third self-storage company. 

He has also negotiated the sale of his French storage business, Armadillo Self Stockage, for a sum reported to be in the region of £20m, but will retain Jenners Depository, which he purchased in February 2006. 

Based in Edinburgh, Armadillo Self Storage has ten branches located mainly in Scotland and the North of England. Established in 2003, its clients now include multinational corporations such as Diageo and AON, as well as domestic customers and students.