Student accommodation provider offloads portfolio in £306m deal

Unite Students, the owner, manager and developer of student accommodation, has sold a portfolio of 11 properties, comprising 4,488 beds for £306m to an affiliate of Lone Star Funds.

Unite’s share of the deal will be £236m.

The disposal portfolio includes assets in Sheffield (1,700 beds), Reading (703 beds), Leicester (665 beds), Bedford (517 beds), Liverpool (390 beds), Birmingham (337 beds), Bristol (99 beds) and Leeds (77 beds).

Richard Smith, chief executive of Unite Students, said: “We have now completed the disposal programme set out at the time of our acquisition of Liberty Living in 2019. These disposals have increased the focus of our portfolio in the strongest university cities and ensure our ability to sustain rental growth over a longer time horizon. Our balance sheet is also positioned for growth with the investment capacity to deliver our biggest ever secured development pipeline of £1 billion and pursue further opportunities to extend our best-in-class platform.”