18 December, 2024– London/New York – Global Student Accommodation (“GSA” or the “Company”), the global leader in student housing, has formed a joint venture (“JV”) with Nuveen Real Estate (“Nuveen”), one of the largest real estate investment managers in the world, on behalf of its parent company TIAA, and signed an agreement to acquire the YouFirst Campus portfolio in France from Gecina for c.€540million.
This strategic partnership combines GSA’s expertise in all aspects of investing and managing student housing globally, with Nuveen’s experience in real estate investment management.
The JV will acquire Gecina’s student housing portfolio of over 3,600 beds across 18 operational assets in Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Marseille and Paris, providing immediate scale and market presence across the country’s leading educational cities. The portfolio also includes four development sites in Paris creating an accretive pipeline that aligns to the JV’s value add and long-term strategy.
All properties are situated close to leading universities and “Grandes Ecoles” including the Sorbonne, Sciences Po and ESCP, with good access to transport networks and retail amenities. With the portfolio heavily weighted towards Paris, securing a foothold in one of the most desirable European cities presents a significant opportunity to unlock strategic value, leverage economies of scale and target further growth.
Nuveen will act as investment advisor to the JV, with GSA as the asset manager. The properties will be operated by GSA’s global partner Yugo, providing an enhanced student experience with further upside efficiencies and scope for operational synergies.
James Hunt, Global Head of Real Estate at Global Student Accommodation, said:
“I am delighted to implement the next phase of GSA’s European growth strategy by entering the French student accommodation market with a specific focus on Paris. We are excited to partner with and work alongside Nuveen, a relationship which is underpinned by a strong alignment on the opportunity in France and signifies GSA’s position as the leader in student housing globally.
“The French market offers compelling opportunities, combining a large student base, driven by the country’s leading universities, and low provision rates of suitable student accommodation. The acquisition of Gecina’s YouFirst Campus portfolio is an excellent entry point into the region, bringing well-located prime assets that will benefit from our expertise and significant synergies providing real value from day one.”
Jasper Gilbey, Head of Housing and Alternatives at Nuveen Real Estate, said:
“Purpose-built student accommodation in Continental Europe continues to be one of Nuveen’s highest conviction strategies –underpinned by low provision rates, a growing youth population and an increase in both domestic and international enrolment numbers. The French market encapsulates all these fundamentals but has historically been a challenging market to enter given the dominance of domestic capital.
“In this context, the unique opportunity to acquire a scaled platform like the YouFirst Campus portfolio is very compelling – a stabilised portfolio with a strong operational track record, identified development pipeline and heavy weighting towards the under-supplied Paris market. We look forward to partnering with sector specialist GSA to acquire the portfolio and collectively drive long-term value through active asset management.”
Strong market fundamentals
France has long been a target market for both GSA and Nuveen. It has the second largest European student population, with over 2.8 million students, 10% of which are international, and a student housing provision rate of 8%. Likewise, Paris is identified as one of GSA and Nuveen’s most attractive European locations, with some of the world’s leading universities and constrained student housing provision rates of just 5%.
This partnership is a strategic building block for both businesses across Europe and will accelerate both GSA and Nuveen’s growth strategies. TD Securities and Barclays are acting financial advisors to GSA throughout this transaction with Morgan Stanley & Co International plc. acting for Gecina.
