Blackstone has entered the Australian student accommodation market with the acquisition of the Brisbane-based student housing platform Student One.
The transaction price was not disclosed, but according to market sources, the deal was done at around A$500m (€300m).
The portfolio of three purpose-built student accommodation apartment blocks offers 2,300m beds and is located in the central business district of Brisbane in close proximity to schools and the University of Queensland.
Blackstone has also taken over Student One’s 40-member integrated management company.
A Blackstone spokesperson told IPE Real Assets: “We are thrilled to make our first investment in student accommodation in Australia [and Asia Pacific] with the acquisition of Student One.
“We see strong fundamentals in Australia for student accommodation – the country is one of the four top destinations around the world, alongside the USA, the UK and Canada, for international students,” said the spokesperson.
Blackstone now owns American Campus Communities, the largest developer, owner, and manager of student housing communities in the US, acquired for US$12.8bn (€11.9bn) in August last year.
It also owns iQ Student Accommodation, one of the UK’s providers of purpose-built student accommodation, purchased for £4.7bn (€505bn), in what was at the time the largest private real estate transaction in the UK in 2020, the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said relative to the US or the UK, Australia was a more affordable destination, and, as such, well placed to tap into the increasing global demand for degrees from top English-speaking universities.
The spokesperson added that Australia issued up 42% more student visas in 2023, compared to pre-COVID.
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