Starwood Capital Group and Round Hill Capital have invested £120m (€138m) in a UK student housing portfolio.
The firms have created a joint venture to buy the six assets.
The partnership is also forward funding a development scheme in Newcastle due for completion in 2018.
The portfolio includes 1,595 beds in Edinburgh, Cambridge, Southampton, Glasgow and Newcastle.
Zsolt Kohalmi, head of European acquisitions at Starwood Capital Group, said: “We believe that the UK is, and will continue to be, one of the top educational destinations for international students.”
Student housing, Kohalmi said, offers the potential for compelling risk-adjusted returns, based on a history of producing robust rental growth and maintaining high occupancy even amidst the last economic crisis.
“We look forward to building on this transaction to establish a sizeable student housing platform in the UK.”
Michael Bickford, founder and chief executive of Round Hill Capital, said: “The demand for higher education in the UK is continuing to rise but the student housing market still suffers from structural supply constraints for high-specification properties in key university cities.”
The portfolio will be managed via Round Hill’s Nido Collection brand.
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