Unite inks deal to buy Liberty Living’s UK portfolio
Unite Group has agreed to buy student housing provider Liberty Living’s UK assets from pension fund CPPIB for £1.4bn.
Under the deal, CPPIB will retain a 20% stake in the combined group.
Liberty Living’s UK portfolio has 24,021 beds, independently valued at around £2.2bn in May.
Unite Group has agreed to buy student housing provider Liberty Living’s UK assets from pension fund CPPIB for £1.4bn.
Under the deal, CPPIB will retain a 20% stake in the combined group.
Liberty Living’s UK portfolio has 24,021 beds, independently valued at around £2.2bn in May.
On completion, the combined group will manage a total of 73,000 beds across 173 properties in 27 UK towns and cities, with a total portfolio valuation of circa £5.2bn.
Liberty Living will be integrated into Unite’s Prism operating platform. The deal is expected to complete by the end of the third quarter.
To partly finance the cash consideration of the deal, Unite has announced a proposed placing to institutional investors seeking to raise around £240m.
Richard Smith, chief executive of Unite, and Joe Lister, chief financial officer of Unite, will continue their respective roles in the combined group.
CPPIB has nominated Thomas Jackson, its managing director, to take up a non-executive director role on the Unite board.
Liberty Living’s assets in Bremen, Germany, and Valencia, Spain are not part of the acquisition.
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