Patrizia has acquired a €314m Danish student accommodation platform from Deutsche Finance International (DFI).

Patrizia said it has bought Blækhus, a portfolio of seven purpose-built student accommodation assets in Copenhagen and Aarhus.

The 40,500sqm portfolio comprises a total of 1,186 units and additional commercial space of around 3,800sqm. All seven assets in the portfolio are newly built or under development with the majority of them set to be completed in 2022.

Louise Hertz, country manager Patrizia Denmark, said: “There is high demand for modern, high-quality, purpose-built student accommodation in Denmark, especially in metropolitan urban centres such as Copenhagen and Aarhus, where student populations are growing rapidly and are increasingly discerning.

“The market is, however, experiencing acute undersupply, particularly of purpose-built accommodation, and is highly fragmented, increasing the value of high-quality, branded portfolios with strong local amenities and transport links.”

Antonio Marin-Bataller, director, pan-European transactions at Patrizia, said: “Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, student housing continues to prove resilient and is a high conviction sector for us as part of our pan-European strategic focus on alternatives.”

Marin-Bataller said this transaction marks the largest student housing portfolio deal in Denmark to date and grows Patrizia’s investment in Europe’s student accommodation sector to more than €435m in the last 12 months alone.

“We plan to accelerate our strategic investments in living alternatives in 2022, focusing on key pan-European urban locations that meet our research-based investment criteria.”

DFI said it sold Blækhus on behalf of DFI Value-Add Fund I.

Paul Nearchou, managing director at DFI, said: “Launching the Blækhus platform in 2018 has allowed us to be early movers and one of the largest investors in the Danish student accommodation market.

“The strength of the Blækhus brand and the associated portfolio is testament to the work of our team over the last three years which we are extremely proud of.”

Gavin Neilan, co-founder and co-managing partner, at DFI said: “Aggregating portfolios and establishing consumer-centric operating platforms are central investment themes for DFI.

“Blækhus demonstrates our ability to put that strategy into action and ultimately crystallise the value we have created on behalf of our investors.” 

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