Student Housing Veteran Nick Porter Expands His Empire With Operator Deal
The Dot Group, the student accommodation conglomerate set up by sector veteran Nick Porter, has bought a major UK-based operator.
Dot has bought CRM Students from German investor Corestate Capital, the companies said in a press release. CRM manages 26,000 beds across 100 schemes in seven countries, with the largest concentration in the UK.
CRM operates student beds on behalf of third parties, and its business includes the Beyoo brand.
In 2022, the last year for which accounts are available, CRM made a £1.6M loss from revenue of £7.4M and had net liabilities of £256K. It said in the accounts that it expected to make a £161K loss in 2023 and turn a small profit in 2024.
The acquisition expands Dot’s combined global footprint into four new European markets — Austria, Italy, Poland and Portugal — while substantially expanding its UK footprint, the company said.
Porter, Dot’s CEO and founder, founded listed UK student accommodation giant Unite and went on to found his own investment business, Global Student Accommodation, which has $6B of assets under management in the U.S., UK and Australia.
Also in the Dot stable is operating brand Yugo, specialist student debt platform Kinetic Capital and student.com, an online student accommodation marketplace.
