Catella Residential Investment Management’s (CRIM) latest European student housing fund has acquired €55m worth of assets.
The Catella European Student Housing Fund (CESHF) II fund has invested the capital to buy three assets in Austria, France and Spain.
In Austria, CESHF II has bought a 5,622sqm eight-storey building of 224 rooms in Linz.
In France, the fund has acquired a 4,757sqm asset of 242 student apartments in Évry for around €20m from Imodev.
In Spain, the fund has acquired a property with 196 student apartments for 211 beds comprising in Seville for around €15m.
The Belin-based manager said the latest transactions lifts the investment volume of the fund to €100m in four European countries.
In September last year, CESHF II raised €100m at first close. The fund is expected to invest up to €250m across European markets in the next two years.
Alexander Brüning, fund manager at CRIM, said student housing has increasingly developed into an established asset class in the last 10 years and CRIM’s first pan-European student housing fund has enabled it to deliver strong annual returns for its investors.
“Education is becoming an economic factor worldwide, and the number of students, both nationally and internationally, continues to rise significantly.
“Across Europe, roughly only 10% of students have access to a dedicated student apartment. Affordable dorms in good locations, therefore, offer investors stable, largely anti-cyclical returns.”
