Gaw Capital leads Australian student accommodation acquisition

Financial details have not been disclosed. According to a statement, the plan is to create housing for more than 500 students in an effort to meet an expected national shortfall of 400,000 units by 2020 in the higher education accommodation space.

"The acquisition means we can provide a significant number of beds in a fast, cost effective manner, whilst at the same time offering a very high level of amenities for students," said Felix Lai, investment director at Gaw. "In many ways, this building offers more exciting opportunities than a new build and the level of support we have received from the community has been very encouraging. This could be the first of numerous conversions of older style office buildings into alternative uses."

Australia is estimated to be the third largest host of foreign students globally, with 6% of students having relocated from other countries, especially China, India, Malaysia and Vietnam. Private equity interest in this space has been connected to an increasing demand for accommodation as rising Asian income levels allow growing numbers of foreign students to study in the country.

Previous activity includes Goldman Sachs and Blue Sky Alternative Investments taking control of The Pad, a company that claims to provide accommodation to all major universities and education groups in Brisbane. Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC and Macquarie Capital entered the market with purchase of a majority stake in off-campus specialist developer Iglu. Meanwhile, local investment manager AMP Capital has identified student housing as the core target area of a A$300 million ($223 million) fund it launched earlier this year.

Gaw invests across a number of real estate segments, including logistics warehouses, residential development, offices, retail malls and hospitality, It claims to have raised $7.3 billion since 2005 and control $12.8 billion of assets under management as of the third quarter of 2016.

Earlier this year the firm partnered with Australia's Abacus Property Group for an Australia-focused real estate fund. The vehicle, Abacus Gaw Investment Trust (AGIT), will acquire industrial assets in major cities on the east coast of Australia and has a target of about A$200 million in gross assets.

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• Topics
• Australasia
• Real estate
• Buyouts
• Australia
• Hong Kong (China)
• Education
• Gaw Capital Partners