FINANCE: Empiric Student Property has raised £85m in its initial public offering – just more than half of its £150m maximum target.
The student housing specialist intends to operate as an internally managed REIT to invest in modern prime city centre UK assets.
It is expected that shares will start trading on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker ESP Admission on 30 June 2014.
The new company is to be seeded with a £40m portfolio which had been managed by London Cornwall Property Partners, and it has a pipeline of further purchases.
Empiric non-executive chairman, Brenda Dean (The Rt Hon Baroness Dean of Thornton-le-Fylde), said: “We are pleased to have attracted a wide range of investors to Empiric Student Property’s initial public offering.
“The executive team has identified a portfolio of assets comprising eleven properties with over 1,100 beds.
“We expect to complete on four of these shortly after admission with the balance of the net proceeds from the Issue being deployed by the end of this year.
“Thereafter, we will seek to grow the portfolio further, targeting a portfolio of assets with 8,000 to 10,000 beds over the next few years.”
Chief executive, Paul Hadaway, added: “Purpose-built student accommodation has become increasingly attractive as an asset class with a stable revenue stream that is less volatile compared to the wider property market.
“The growing demand from both local and international students for purpose-built student accommodation and a lack of supply has created a structural imbalance in the market which we believe will continue and which provides an attractive opportunity for the company.”
Bridget.O’Connell@estatesgazette.com
