DREF buys further €60m of student housing in Germany

Deutsche Real Estate Funds (DREF) has announced the purchase of a student residence in Munich for €60 mln, bringing the total amount it has invested in the sector since June 2015 to more than €200 mln.

'This latest acquisition follows an intense 12-month period of activity during which DREF issued the very first bond to fund student accommodation and significantly expanded the bench of talent across its business,' said Felix Bauer, CEO of Deutsche Real Estate Funds Advisor.

DREF is a private provider, owner and operator of student living space in Germany, which manages a portfolio of more than 3,500 residential units. The company said it is preparing the acquisition of another 1,800 units this year, with €150 mln of investment capital available including a €50 mln credit line from Chenavari Investment Managers.

DREF builds, acquires, refurbishes and manages student residences let to students under the Twenty First brand.

The Bauer Group is DREF's majority shareholder. Internos Global Investors and the Somerston family office Group have holdings totaling 27.5%.

Germany’s student housing market is heating up with a number of portfolios coming on to the market in the first weeks of 2016, Bauer recently told PropertyEU.

‘Finally we are seeing some movement and trading in Germany,’ he said. ‘There’s a number of portfolios above €100 mln and five or six buildings. There's movement now in the German market with insurance, pension funds, institutional money moving in.