AXA IM - Real Assets, a global leader in real asset investments and the leading real estate portfolio and asset manager in Europe, announces that it has agreed to acquire, on behalf of its clients and in a JV with a Dutch institutional investor, also acting on behalf of clients, and Greystar, all 37 Spanish student accommodation facilities owned by Spain’s leading student accommodation provider Resa. The purchase price was undisclosed.
The transaction marks AXA IM - Real Assets’ entry into the European student accommodation sector and is the first joint venture it has undertaken with these two JV partners. AXA IM - Real Assets, on behalf of its clients, and the Dutch institutional investor have acquired equal sized shares representing the substantial majority holding in the portfolio, while Greystar, which has also purchased the RESA operating business and will act as property, development and asset manager for the portfolio, has bought the remaining balance.
The Resa portfolio comprises 9,309 student beds across 33 currently operational assets and four development projects located over 19 Spanish cities, making this the largest ever student housing acquisition on the Iberian Peninsula.
The Resa portfolio currently represents approximately 10% of Spain’s total purpose built student housing provision. In what is a significantly undersupplied market in one of Europe’s fastest growing economies, AXA IM - Real Assets and its partners intend to grow the Spanish student accommodation portfolio by investing in further facilities and developments.
This transaction comes shortly after the acquisition by AXA IM - Real Assets, on behalf of one of its clients, of a majority stake in University Center Chicago, a 1,732-bed student housing property located in downtown Chicago, Illinois in July 2017.
Commenting on the acquisition, Laurent Lavergne, Head of Separate Accounts at AXA IM - Real Assets said: “This transaction provides us with a rare opportunity to acquire, on behalf of our clients, a large scale and extremely high quality portfolio of student accommodation, which is also managed by Spain’s leading halls of residence operator - Resa. It also marks a number of significant firsts for us, being our first investment into this asset class in Europe and our first joint venture with our two JV partners.”
