Brookfield Confirms Potential Sale Of £3.5B UK Student Business

Brookfield is weighing options, including a sale of its giant UK student accommodation business.

The Canadian private equity giant said in a notice to bondholders that given debt secured against Student Roost’s assets, it is undertaking a strategic review of the platform. It said no formal decision had been taken on whether to sell, refinance or keep Student Roost.

React News reported in January that Brookfield was mulling a potential sale, with a price of £3.5B touted.

Student Roost has about 23,000 beds either in operation or in its development pipeline, spread across the UK. Brookfield has been building the business since buying its first UK student portfolio in 2016. 

Any sale would be the largest student property disposal kicked off in the UK since the beginning of the pandemic, and test the appetite of large investors for UK student assets. The sector was hit hard during the pandemic as students were forced to study from home during lockdown.

For the current academic year, listed operators like Unite have reported that bookings have returned to pre-pandemic levels.

In 2020, just before the pandemic hit, Blackstone bought student accommodation company iQ from Goldman Sachs and the Wellcome Trust for £4.7B, in one of the largest-ever UK real estate deals. Bloomberg reported that Blackstone and Unite are among the likely bidders for Student Roost. 

Brookfield is also likely to divest one of its other major UK real estate businesses in the coming months — it is expected to revive the £3.5B sale of holiday village owner Center Parcs in the first half of the year.