(Bloomberg) — Brookfield Asset Management Inc. is preparing to launch the sale of one of the UK’s largest student-accommodation businesses amid growing investor demand for such assets, according to people familiar with the matter.
The infrastructure specialist is working with advisers on the settlement of the student roost, which could be valued at more than £3.5 billion ($4.7 billion), the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. It will soon send marketing documents to potential buyers and the sale is likely to attract private equity and strategic bidders, including Blackstone Inc and Unite Group Plc, the people said.
According to people, deliberations are on and no final decision has been taken on the timing of any sale. Representatives for Blackstone, Brookfield and Unite declined to comment.
Toronto-based Brookfield entered the UK student housing market in 2016, when it purchased a nearly 5,000-bed portfolio from Avenue Capital Group and developed it into what is now the Student Roast. The business operates in over 20 cities across the UK and is expected to have approximately 23,000 beds by the end of the 2022-23 academic year.
The sale of Student Roast could be the biggest deal in the region as Blackstone Inc agreed to buy the IQ student housing business from Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Wellcome Trust for about $6 billion in 2020.
Student housing remains popular among financial investors in the UK, with the number of students far outnumbering the rooms available in purpose-built housing. The shortage is accelerating as international students return to the UK amid lifting of pandemic-era barriers such as lockdowns and quarantines.
Brookfield’s real estate business in Europe managed more than $45 billion in assets in the third quarter of 2021, more than doubling in size since 2016. Its net worth in Europe topped $110 billion last year.
– With the help of Jack Siders.
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