Unite fund to raise EUR 165m ahead of new acquisition

Unite Group, the listed developer and manager of student accommodation in the UK, has announced that its Unite UK Student Accommodation Fund is in the final stages of raising £150 mln (EUR 165 mln) to fund the expansion of its portfolio.

Part of the new equity raised will be used for the planned acquisition of a portfolio of assets from Unite for £100 mln later this month, the company said. The balance, together with leverage, will be kept by the fund for further acquisitions.

Binding subscription agreements have already been received for £133 mln from third party institutional investors. In addition, the fund has received applications for capital commitments totalling a further £23 mln. Final subscriptions are likely to be capped at a total of £150 mln. The fund will then have a investment capacity to approximately £325 mln.

Unite said that a substantial proportion of these commitments have been secured from institutions who have not previously invested in the fund. Unite intends to co-invest up to a maximum of £18.6 mln.

USAF's portfolio was valued at £877 mln at end-September.