Singapore: The Ascott Limited (Ascott) has established a development venture totalling US$150 million in committed equity to develop student accommodation assets in the USA.
Named Student Accommodation Development Venture (SAVE), Ascott will manage the venture and hold a 20 per cent stake in the joint venture. The remaining 80 per cent will be held by Riyad Capital, one of the largest institutional capital partners in the Middle East and an existing partner from Ascott’s network of lodging property owners.
When fully deployed, the venture will boost Ascott’s funds under management (FUM) by US$375 million.
SAVE’s first investment is a 779-bed Class A freehold student accommodation development asset in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. This asset will serve more than 25,000 undergraduate and graduate students from the nearby University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). Currently under construction, the asset is set for completion by August 2023, in time for the academic year of 2023/2024. With the new acquisition, Ascott has invested about US$648.9 million (S$875 million) to build a diversified and quality portfolio of nine student accommodation assets in a year via its funds and its sponsored trust, Ascott Residence Trust (ART).
Kevin Goh, CapitaLand’s CEO for Lodging said: “Student accommodation assets, with their counter-cyclical qualities provide income resilience to our investors. Our well-located assets have performed well with operating assets enjoying a strong average occupancy rate of close to 100 per cent. We remain confident in the segment and look to invest through platforms such as SAVE to create value for our capital partners by leveraging Ascott’s expertise and network to identify under-supplied student accommodation markets that are close to good universities.”
“SAVE, together with Ascott Serviced Residence Global Fund and ART, are key investment platforms for us to further grow our FUM for lodging. In 2021, our lodging FUM grew by more than 7% year-on-year to over S$8 billion. SAVE will further increase our FUM by about US$375 million (S$512 million) when fully deployed and boost our fee-related earnings (FRE). We will continue to pursue more opportunities while remaining steadfast in building a capital-efficient business model,” he added.
Mak Hoe Kit, Ascott’s managing director for lodging funds and head of business development & investment asset management, said: “We are excited to work with our partner in SAVE to deploy into suitable student accommodation opportunities. More than just a hospitality company, as a vertically-integrated owner and operator of lodging properties around the world, Ascott has the distinct capacity to create value by connecting our partners with investment opportunities. Leveraging our extensive local knowledge, we are able to access favourable off-market investment deals, and match them with a ready pool of trusted capital partners. We will continue to seek more like-minded partners to set up new capital partnerships for a range of resilient lodging assets.”
