French real estate investment trust Gecina has agreed to sell its French student housing portfolio to a joint venture of Nuveen Real Estate, on behalf of parent TIAA, and Global Student Accommodation (GSA).
The properties are located near top-tier universities like the Sorbonne, Sciences Po, and ESCP, with easy access to public transportation and shopping.
The sale, concluding a competitive bidding process launched earlier this year, saw offers from various institutional investors and student housing operators.
Beñat Ortega, CEO of Gecina, said: ‘This remarkable transaction project illustrates Gecina’s expertise in creating value through an active development, asset management, and portfolio rotation strategy. The value crystallized will allow us to further consolidate our balance sheet, finance our value-creating office and residential pipeline, and provide additional leeway to finance opportunistic acquisitions while respecting our investment discipline.’
James Hunt, global head of real estate at GSA, commented: ‘I am delighted to implement the next phase of GSA’s European growth strategy by entering the French student accommodation market with a specific focus on Paris. The French market offers compelling opportunities, combining a large student base, driven by the country’s leading universities, and low provision rates of suitable student accommodation. The acquisition of Gecina’s YouFirst Campus portfolio is an excellent entry point into the region, bringing well-located prime assets that will benefit from our expertise and significant synergies providing real value from day one.’
Jasper Gilbey, head of housing and alternatives at Nuveen Real Estate, added: ‘PBSA in Continental Europe continues to be one of Nuveen’s highest conviction strategies – underpinned by low provision rates, a growing youth population and an increase in both domestic and international enrolment numbers. The French market encapsulates all these fundamentals but has historically been a challenging market to enter given the dominance of domestic capital. In this context, the unique opportunity to acquire a scaled platform like the YouFirst Campus portfolio is very compelling – a stabilised portfolio with a strong operational track record, identified development pipeline and heavy weighting towards the under-supplied Paris market.’
The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2025 pending standard approvals.
Nuveen will advise the joint venture on investments, while GSA will manage the properties. Yugo, GSA’s global partner, will operate the properties, aiming to improve the student experience while also increasing efficiency and creating operational synergies.
GSA is being advised by TD Securities and Barclays on this transaction, while Morgan Stanley & Co International is advising Gecina.
