Greystar to Acquire UK Student Housing

LONDON and CHARLESTON, SC-Greystar Real Estate Partners in partnership with Goldman Sachs, has entered into an agreement to purchase a portfolio of UK student housing assets out of the bankruptcy proceedings for the Opal Property Group.  The agreement was signed in late September and the acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of October.

The portfolio comprises 21 assets mostly located in London, Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool and represents the first acquisition undertaken by Greystar in the UK.

“This transaction aligns perfectly with Greystar's strategy to acquire assets that, while fundamentally sound, will benefit greatly from our organization's track record of repositioning and improving assets in order to provide a superior living experience for our residents,” said Bob Faith, founder and CEO of Greystar. “While there will be minor operational differences between our US and European assets, we firmly believe the combination of well amenitized accommodations and best in class customer service is a very basic requirement, irrespective of geographic location or culture.”

Greystar is one of the largest operator of apartment communities in the United States, with more than 215,000 apartments under management. The company specializes in conventional and student living assets, operating principally in the US, but is also expanding into Mexico. Greystar has a stated intention to establish itself as a leading player in the UK student and private rented sectors and believes this portfolio will provide a strong foundation from which to build a platform of scale in the coming years.

“This transaction provides access to a number of well-located but under-managed assets that we believe will be the first of many acquisitions in this sector,” said Brett Lashley, managing director for Greystar in the United Kingdom. “By leveraging our long term partnership with the team at Goldman Sachs, we're bringing our operational skills, expertise and capital to the UK. Our objective is to quickly become a major participant and thought leader in a market providing high quality accommodations for students both in London and the regions.”

Greystar and Goldman Sachs were advised by Macquarie Capital.

Greystar Real Estate Partners is a fully integrated multifamily company offering expertise in investment management, development, and property management throughout the United States and abroad.  Headquartered in Charleston, SC, Greystar is managing properties in over 100 markets.  In addition to its Property Operations business, Greystar has a robust Investment Management platform with 45,000 apartment units valued at $5.5 billion and a Development platform that was recently named the largest builder of apartments in 2012 with 5,360 units started.  Greystar was founded by Bob Faith in 1993.