Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) has invested A$300m (€181m) in a core fund managed by Australia’s largest student housing operator Scape Australia, according to sources.
Scape declined a request to confirm that NPS was the new investor in the Scape Core Fund (SCF).
With NPS joining SCF’s foundation investors – Allianz Real Estate, APG and AXA Investment Managers – the fund has acquired four projects in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
The SCF portfolio now consists of 24 facilities, with more than 13,000 student beds and a total value of A$3.3bn.
Craig Carracher, executive chairman of Scape Australia, told IPE Real Assets today that the four new assets were developed by the First Scape Student Accommodation Joint Venture Fund.
Investors in that development fund were APG, Bouwinvest, Hong Kong-based ICBCI and Scape founders.
Carracher said ICBCI had exited entirely from the development fund, while BouwInvest had rolled their equity position of A$30m into the core fund.
“We have added the new investor to the Scape Core Fund, and accepted a further $300m in equity to make the acquisition,” he said.
The latest deal follows completion by Scape of the A$2.2bn acquisition of Urbanest in May.
In addition to SCF, Scape manages two real estate funds developing 18 Scape student and rental accommodation assets across Australia, with an end value of approximately A$4bn.
Scape founders, Craig Carracher, Stephen Gaitanos, Nigel Taee and Tom Ward, have also invested alongside their global partners to ensure further long-term alignment.
To read the digital edition of the latest IPE Real Assets magazine click here.
