Greystar is in advanced talks to buy student digs developer Nido for close to £600m.
The US private rented sector giant is frontrunner to secure a deal with Nido’s owner Round Hill Capital, with terms expected to be agreed imminently.
It is one of two parties that have been vying for the Nido business after talks to sell the company to Chinese life insurer Ping An collapsed earlier this year. The talks are at an advanced stage but no deal has yet been finalised.
Ping An was in exclusive talks to recapitalise the company with fresh equity in a deal that would have valued Nido at around £500m late last year.
However, investor appetite for student accommodation is thought to have pushed up the price significantly.
Private equity firm Round Hill bought Nido from Blackstone for £425m in 2012.
At the time it owned three London student accommodation developments in Spitalfields (pictured), King’s Cross and Notting Hill, comprising 2,057 beds in total.
The 33-storey Spitalfields scheme is the tallest student block in the UK.
Round Hill has since added a fourth development, a 347-bed scheme in Hampstead it bought for £60m late last year.
At this stage there is no certainty the latest sale talks will complete. But the talks come after Round Hill ditched plans to float Nido last year in favour of a private recapitalisation.
The student accommodation market is currently undergoing a surge in investment activity following a highly active 2014 during which £2.5bn was traded.
Russian-backed Letter One this week completed the £535m acquisition of Carlyle’s Pure Student Living business and the £144m acquisition of five
student schemes from McLaren Property including the 13-storey Paris Gardens development, SE1.
The 5,867-bed Knightsbridge student housing portfolio is also currently on the market for more than £500m.
