UK: Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC has teamed up with Greystar to buy Student Roost for £3.3 billion from Brookfield.
Student Roost manages more than 20,000 beds across the UK. The pair have reportedly seen off competitive bids from US private equity giant Blackstone, UK company Unite Students and specialist student housing investor GSA, according to a report in the Financial Times.
The transaction is among the largest UK real estate deals struck since the pandemic began, and will take place against a background of rising inflation, interest rate growth and economic uncertainty.
The FT reported that bids for Student Roost had originally been expected to hit £3.5 billion, but some potential bidders were deterred by rising borrowing costs.
“We weren’t comfortable above £3 billion because borrowing costs have more than doubled,” it reported one as saying.
Greystar already operates high-end student housing brand Chapter, while GIC has made several UK PBSA investments over the past decade, including a number of purchases made alongside Unite.
Brookfield was advised on the sale by Eastdil Secured and Morgan Stanley.
