Student accommodation schemes sold in £1.4bn deal

Student accommodation giant Unite has bought rival firm Liberty Living Group in a £1.4bn deal – and in turn landed some of the East Midlands biggest apartment schemes.

The Liberty Living portfolio is a portfolio of purpose-built student accommodation comprising 24,021 beds and was independently valued at £2.2bn as at 31 May 2019.

Liberty Living owns the Athena, Liberty Court Annexe, Oxford House, Liberty Court and Liberty Park schemes in Leicester – a total of 1,564 beds. In Nottingham, it has 598 beds at Liberty Point.

Richard Smith, chief executive officer of Unite, said: “This is a transformative acquisition which brings together the best of two companies with a wealth of expertise and experience in delivering for students and university partners. By combining two highly complementary portfolios, the enlarged group will be well positioned to meet the growing need for affordable, high quality student accommodation in university towns and cities where demand is strong.”