Bouwfonds IM raises €110m in second closing for European student fund

Bouwfonds Investment Management has completed the second closing of the Bouwfonds European Student Housing Fund, raising new commitments of €110 mln.

Earlier, the fund obtained €70 mln in equity from the founding investors in the first raising.

Since its launch in 2013 the Bouwfonds European Student Housing Fund has acquired four student housing assets across the Netherlands, the UK and Germany.

'We have invested in student housing before and our current portfolio of close to 4,000 units is performing very well, highlighting that student housing investments offer stable and secured cash flows,' commented Xavier Jongen, Fund director Bouwfonds European Residential Funds.

The vehicle, with a target volume of €200-300 mln, is a special fund (in accordance with the German Investment Act) with a core risk profile which offers investors a rate of return (IRR) of 5.5% to 6.5% with a maximum loan-to-value ratio of 40%.

In April, the vehicle closed its first three acquisitions in Germany, Scotland and the Netherlands for €69 mln.

In the UK, the fund acquired a student residence at the former Gateway Theater scheme in the Scottish capital Edinburgh with in total 140 apartments. These represent a total of 170 beds allocated to studios, 2-bed and 3-bed cluster flats, which are all en suite.

In the Netherlands, the fund has acquired a property of almost 9,000 m2 on Van Heenvlietlaan 220 in Amsterdam. The building dates from 1975 and has been used as an office building up to now, but will be converted to student housing in the course of this year.

In Germany, the fund acquired a property of 9,300 m2 on August-Bebel-Strasse 17A-C in Dresden. The building is currently under construction and will be completed in autumn 2014.