Belgian student housing provider Xior has purchased a student housing complex in Lisbon, Portugal, for €58 mln, from joint owners TPG and Round Hill Capital.
The residence, operating under the Nido Living brand, is Campo Pequeno, close to the main public transport, access roads and university axes.
Opened in September 2022, it has 380 rooms across five floors and around 17,000 m2 of gross construction area above ground. It features BREEAM In Use certification thanks to measures such as energy management, water consumption, and sustainable mobility.
CBRE advised TPG and Round Hill Capital on the sale.
The head of Capital Markets at CBRE Portugal, Igor Borrego, commented: ‘This operation demonstrates the attractiveness of the student residences sector in Portugal. Lisbon is the European capital with the fewest beds available per number of students, and the imbalance between supply and demand is quite evident, so when good opportunities arise with assets in operation, it is natural that they generate a lot of interest and appetite on the part of the main investors and operators. This transaction represents an important milestone in the market, setting a new record in terms of price per bed and a sign that real estate investment in quality assets continues to capture interest.’
Besides Lisbon, Xior also recently purchased a student residence in Krakow, Poland, adding a total of 670 student rooms and 1,053 beds across the two properties.
The two acquisitions come on the heels of a €80 mln investment in Xior by Belgian businessman Fernand Huts, making him the second largest shareholder with a 6.54% stake, after CEO Christian Teunissen with 12.4%.
