Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has invested £330 mln (€466 mln) to add a 2,150-bed portfolio to its student housing platform in the UK.
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has invested £330 mln (€466 mln) to add a 2,150-bed portfolio to its student housing platform in the UK.
The deal is the first follow-on acquisition since CPPIB entered the UK student accommodation market in March 2015 by buying the 16,700-bed Liberty Living group for £1.1 bn. The Liberty Living platform is held within a subsidiary, CPPIB Liberty Living.
The newly acquired portfolio is spread across five university cities and was sold by UK-based student accommodation developer Student Castle.
Four of the five buildings are located in Cardiff, London, Manchester and Newcastle, cities where Liberty Living already has a strong presence. The fifth building is in Bristol, where Liberty Living did not previously have a presence but was seeking to gain a foothold.
'Liberty Living has grown historically through the acquisition of developed assets, both individually and as portfolios,' said Liberty Living CEO Charles Marshall. 'The opportunity to acquire these five high-quality residences from Student Castle is a coherent next step in growing our operational portfolio, given the high specification, modernity and location of the assets. We believe this transaction is an excellent example of the marriage of CPPIB's long-term capital to the Liberty Living operating platform to acquire top-quality assets in the sector.'
Together with the Student Castle acquisition, Liberty Living now owns and manages a portfolio of approximately 19,000 beds in 46 residences in 18 cities.
