Aventicum Capital Management, the joint venture between Credit Suisse and Qatar Investment Authority, has acquired eight purpose-built student accommodation assets in the UK from Unite Students for 拢133 mln (鈧�156 mln).
The portfolio comprises 2,284 beds across assets in Coventry, Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Exeter and Manchester and has nomination agreements covering 28% of beds on short-term contracts.
Unite said that the disposal was part of the group鈥檚 proactive portfolio management strategy, and would see the company exit a number of subscale markets, while improving alignment to high and mid-ranked Universities.
The disposals are priced at a net operating income yield of 6.5% and a 2% discount to prevailing book value.
Richard Smith, chief executive of Unite Students, commented: 'This disposal forms part of our target to dispose of 拢200-300 mln of assets in 2021.
'The sale is consistent with our strategy of increasing our exposure to high and mid-ranked Universities where demand is strongest, while delivering operational efficiencies that contribute towards our target for an improvement in our EBIT margin to 74% by the end of 2023.'
According to Unite, completion has now occurred for the disposal of seven of the eight properties in the portfolio for 拢120 mln. The disposal of one remaining property in Manchester for 拢13 mln is expected to complete in H2 2021.
Aventicum Real Estate, the property arm of Aventicum, is a specialist pan-European real estate investment management company led by Christophe Tanghe. It manages a series of value add+ closed-end funds throughout Europe, and raised its inaugural fund in September 2017.
