Student Roost, part of Brookfield Property Partners, is acquiring a major student bed portfolio in the UK from CBRE Global Investors and Curlew Capital's Student Trust.
The Enigma portfolio provides 5,400 beds across 15 properties in 12 UK university towns and cities. The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed, but the portfolio is believed to have traded for £520 mln (€586 mln).
Curlew Student Trust was launched in 2013 as a seven year fund, with three seed assets, backed by clients of CBRE Global Investment Partners and managed by Curlew Alternative Asset Management.
The portfolio represents around 75% of the Curlew Student Trust properties, including assets in London, Birmingham, Bath, Durham and Sheffield. The sale also includes land in Swansea that is consented for the development of student accommodation.
The purchase increases Student Roost’s bed numbers to over 16,400 across 43 properties. This makes Student Roost Britain’s fourth largest provider of purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA), the company said in a statement.
Student Roost CEO Tim Butler: 'This acquisition compliments our existing portfolio, and represents a continuation of our strategy of delivering affordable, high quality PBSA to the UK’s leading university towns and cities.'
He added: 'The sector is maturing, and entering an era of genuine competition and greater customer service expectations. The scale on which we now operate, the quality of our properties and our value proposition all mean we’re well placed to do well in the new environment.'
Student Roost is headquartered in Birmingham. It is an independent business ultimately owned by Brookfield Real Estate Strategic Partners II, a fund managed by Brookfield Asset Management.
Curley Student Trust is retaining approximately 25% of its total portfolio and this will continue to be managed by Curlew.
NEW VENTURE
CBRE Global Investment Partners and Curlew said on Tuesday that they are launching a second venture in the UK student accommodation sector, Curlew Student Trust 2 (CST 2), following the success of their first vehicle.
CST 2 will follow a similar strategy to its predecessor fund and already has two seed assets (917 beds) under offer for delivery in 2020. The follow on fund also has an active pipeline of opportunities.
Alex Bignell, region head of UK, CBRE Global Investment Partners said: 'It is very satisfying to have established a successful programmatic venture with a leading student operator, Curlew, in a sector of the market where CBRE GIP identified a compelling investment opportunity. We are very pleased with the returns generated for our clients to date. CBRE GIP and Curlew see further opportunities in the sector and look forward to working on these together.'
'The Curlew team are delighted to have crystalized this exceptional performance for our investors and look forward to the completion of the retained element of the portfolio and the success of the newly launched second fund,' added Paul Oliver, CEO, Curlew Alternative Asset Management.
Curlew Student Trust was advised by Savills, CMS and PWC.
