By Iain Withers
LONDON (Reuters) -Australian finance giant Macquarie has agreed to buy two student housing businesses in Europe that manage over 12,000 beds, in the latest sign of overseas investors pushing into the sector.
Macquarie will buy two specialist student housing investment platforms – MILESTONE and BaseStack Living – for an undisclosed fee, the company said in a statement. Macquarie declined to comment on the deal value.
The move is part of Macquarie’s strategy of growing its private markets unit overseas after offloading its international public assets to Nomura.
Student housing has become a hot market within real estate, with investors lured by the prospect of attractive returns at a time when prices have soured for more traditional assets like offices.
The deal will pitch Macquarie against other large investors in the sector, including Blackstone, Legal & General and Greystar.
Student accommodation has jumped to the top of European real estate investors’ preferences of what to buy, overtaking rental housing more broadly, according to a June investor survey by trade body INREV.
The platforms acquired by Macquarie span properties in Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Poland, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Denmark. Macquarie plans to expand the business to other European markets over time, said Brendan Jones, head of real estate for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Macquarie Asset Management.
The owner of BaseStack Living, Justin Hamer, will be named chief executive of the combined student housing group.
(Reporting by Iain Withers; Editing by Toby Chopra)
