Blackstone’s student accommodation arm, IQ, has bought two sites from Downing Students with a GDV of £370m.
The deal sees Blackstone take control of the 841-bed Vega, at 6 Miles Street, SW8, and The Mont, a 324-bed building at 13 Rillbank Terrace close to The Meadows in Edinburgh.
While The Mont is a new development, which took its first students in September, Vega opened in 2021.
Downing’s investment director, Bay Downing, said: “This transaction will enhance our ability to accelerate the expansion of our pipeline, which already includes more than 5,000 new student beds across Manchester, Leeds, Bristol, Brighton, Newcastle and London.”
He added: “We have strong ambitions for the growth of Downing Students and Downing Living, and going forward, we will seek co-investment opportunities with the right partners.”
The deal builds on recent acquisitions by Blackstone and iQ in Glasgow, Nottingham and Warwick. IQ chief executive Matt Merrick said it would “continue to invest in Russell Group markets where student growth is highest”.
Blackstone bought IQ in May 2020 in a £4.7bn deal – at the time the largest private real estate transaction in the UK.
Samir Amichi, Blackstone’s head of real estate acquisitions for Europe, added that student housing was “an area in which we will continue to deploy capital with conviction”.
IQ now owns and operates 81 properties, comprising more than 33,000 beds, with more than 4,000 beds in its development pipeline, all located near Russell Group cities where student demand is highest.
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