Patrizia Immobilien has acquired a 525-unit residential portfolio on behalf of a separate account mandate from a German pension fund.

The real estate investment manager said it bought the portfolio with student and business apartments in the German cities of Leipzig and Mainz for €53m.

Christoph Langmack, Patrizia’s head of residential acquisitions, said: “Student residences and business apartments generate a relatively stable and attractive return for our institutional clients, offer outstanding risk diversification and are therefore ideal for adding to investment portfolios.”

The vast majority of the portfolio rests with the two properties in the university city of Leipzig.

One is a new building for student residences on Kurt-Schumacher-Straße, with 229 apartments divided across 5,000sqm of living space, while the other is an existing building with 246 apartments in Johannisgasse offering around 6,300sqm of living space.

The latter property is to be revitalised and used as student dormitories in the future.

The property in Mainz is an existing building on Rheinallee which, once a programme of refurbishment and modernisation is complete, will offer 50 business apartments.