The Coral Student Portfolio fund said on Monday it has participated in one of the UK's biggest real estate transactions of 2012 by providing a combination of debt and equity for Round Hill's acquisition of the Nido student accommodation portfolio.
The Coral Student Portfolio fund said on Monday it has participated in one of the UK's biggest real estate transactions of 2012 by providing a combination of debt and equity for Round Hill's acquisition of the Nido student accommodation portfolio.
Coral, which was launched in 2009 and is advised by CBRE, said the deal 'further increases its exposure to London, which is a primary target for the fund as part of its strategic objective to increase exposure to core university cities with attractive supply and demand fundamentals'.
The Nido portfolio comprises 2,526 beds across three prime London schemes situated in Kings Cross, Spitalfields and Notting Hill. The package was bought in May by London-based real estate investment firm Round Hill Capital from private equity group Blackstone for £420 mln (EUR 513 mln).
As a result of the deal, Coral has exceeded £100 mln net asset value (NAV) and has seven investments providing exposure to 85 properties and over 28,000 beds.
Research from CBRE predicts transaction volumes for the UK student accommodation market to reach £1.5 bn in 2012, 30% more than the £1.16 bn invested in 2011.
'Whilst the fund was originally established to anticipate the demand of retail investors, we are seeing increasing interest from institutions attracted by the strong rental growth that characterizes the market and the opportunity to diversify their portfolios,' said John Kennedy, co-fund manager of the Coral Student Portfolio.
