GCP Student Living is set to become the first real estate investment trust (REIT) for student accommodation in the UK later this month.
GCP Student Living is set to become the first real estate investment trust (REIT) for student accommodation in the UK later this month.
The closed-end investment company hopes to raise at least £50 mln ( €59 mln) in an IPO this week and will seek admission to trading on the London Stock Exchange's Specialist Fund Market and the Channel Island Stock Exchange on 17 May.
If the operation is successful it will mark the first listing by a student housing vehicle in the UK for over a decade.
GCP is focused on the London market and aims to acquire Scape East, located opposite Queen Mary, University of London on admission to the stock exchange. The property houses 588 studio bedrooms and about 2,000 m2 of teaching facilities.
The company will target a 5.5% annualised income yield growing in line with inflation, alongside a total return of between 8% and 10%. It has access to a pipeline of a further £160 mln of Scape-branded buildings in Greenwich and Shoreditch scheduled to complete between 2013 and 2015, with a further 1,000 beds under review for development.
GSP Student Living is part of private equity group Gravis Capital Partners.
