Investec Structured Property Finance has completed its second funding deal with Curlew, a student accommodation specialist in the UK.
In the latest transaction, London-headquartered Investec agreed to provide a £23.6 mln (€26.5 mln) financing facility to Curlew Student Trust. The funding is for the development of a 454-bed Grade-A scheme and an additional 186 m2 retail unit in the southern English town of Bournemouth.
This is Investec’s second deal with Curlew, one of the UK’s largest investors in purpose built student accommodation.
Investec said that the Bournemouth deal has been backed by clients of CBRE Global Investment Partners, demonstrating the appetite from private equity investors for the attractive returns available from the growing student accommodation sector.
Investec is providing the senior debt, which will fund the scheme through to practical completion in August this year, with a subsequent 18 month investment period. Located on Christchurch Road, a short walk from both of the city’s higher education campuses, the development is scheduled to open for the start of the 2017/18 academic year.
This latest transaction takes Investec’s exposure to Curlew to £71.3 mln, after closing a £47.7 mln facility in April for the development of a 527-bed East London student accommodation scheme.
Investec's lending to real estate funds such as Curlew in the last three years now totals over £400 mln.
'Investor appetite for well-located student accommodation schemes in the UK shows little sign of abating, with the long-income profile of these operationally backed assets particularly attractive,' said Investec's Mark Bladon.
'Both of Bournemouth's higher education institutions, which collectively total more than 23,000 students, continue to grow in reputation, a key factor in our decision to again partner with an experienced and trusted operator in Curlew to deliver this purpose-built scheme. While the UK's reputation as a global hub for students remains, we will continue to consider schemes that require bespoke financing facilities and draw on our significant use-class expertise.'
