Student accommodation firm raises £300m to fund further growth

Student accommodation firm Unite has announced it has raised £296m through a share placing.

The Bristol based firm has seen huge growth in demand for its accommodation in recent months and is looking to grow its business.

A total of 32,693,930 new ordinary shares in the company were placed with institutional investors by J.P. Morgan Securities.

Concurrently with the placing several directors of the company have subscribed for an aggregate of 13,253 new ordinary shares in the capital of the company.

In addition, concurrently with the placing, retail investors have subscribed in the separate offer made by the  company which raised £4m.

Together, the placing, subscription and retail offer raised proceeds of approximately £300m for the company.

Bosses at the company said the money would increase its committed pipeline to more than £600m and help it provide student housing “where the need is greatest”, as well as supporting the growth of its university partners.

As reported on TheBusinessDesk.com the company has seen a sharp fall in profits in the first six months of the year from £334m to £116.9m.

The increase in interest rates is being blamed for the 65 per cent fall in profits.