JLL advises GIC and Greystar JV on Student Roost acquisition

GIC, a global institutional investor, and Greystar Real Estate Partners, LLC (Greystar), a global leader in the investment, development, and management of high-quality rental housing, have formed a joint venture and signed an agreement to acquire Student Roost, from one of Brookfield’s real estate private funds.

JLL acted as exclusive M&A and real estate advisor to GIC and Greystar on the acquisition of Student Roost, the UK’s third largest purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) platform. Student Roost’s high-quality portfolio comprises over 23,000 beds with a secured development pipeline of approximately 3,000 further beds covering key UK university cities. It is well-positioned to benefit from strong demand growth in the leading UK higher education accommodation market.

The JLL Equity Advisory team combines financial advisory and real estate services with global access to capital, to advise on a range of strategic transactions across all sectors in EMEA. M&A services include buyside and sell side advisory for real estate businesses and asset rich platforms in the public and private markets. 

Dan Jones, Senior Director, Equity Advisory at JLL, said,  “The student and living sectors are one of the highest conviction investment strategies for good reason.  Student Roost is a fantastic acquisition for GIC and Greystar, with its high quality portfolio in a sector with strong fundamentals.”

Huw Forrest, Head of UK Student Housing - Living Capital Markets at JLL, added, “The demand drivers in the UK higher education market are more compelling now than ever and the role of PBSA in supporting students is central to the sector. JLL forecast that we will continue to see demand outpaces the creation of new supply. These factors, plus a range of others, are a key reason why the UK student housing sector continues to attract significant interest from across the global investor spectrum.”

Mark Allnutt, Senior Managing Director – Europe, Greystar, said, “We are thrilled to welcome the Student Roost team to Greystar. This acquisition adds to our portfolio of over 120,000 student beds globally. We have been active investors, developers and managers of student housing in the UK since 2013, through our ownership in IQ until 2020, Chapter Living and the recently launched Canvas brand. GIC is one of our most important global investment partners and we are excited to extend our partnership to the UK and in student housing, which given the fundamentals, is one of our highest conviction investment strategies globally.”