Unite Students has sold two London properties to its London Student Accommodation joint venture (LSAV) with GIC for £342m.
The properties, Arch View House in Wembley and another in Whitechapel, total 1,358 beds, and the sale reflects and average net initial yield of 4%.
Selling the assets to its joint venture means that Unite retains a £171m share in the two properties, and the disposal follows the extension of LSAV to 2032, announced last month.
LSAV will fund the acquisition through £208m of equity from Unite and GIC and through a £140m, eight-year loan provided by Barings.
Unite will continue to manage and operate the properties under its management agreement with LSAV. Following the transaction the jv will hold gross property assets valued at £1.67bn and net assets of £1.04bn on a pro forma basis.
Richard Smith, Unite Students chief executive, said: “I am delighted to announce further growth of our LSAV joint venture with GIC. This follows our announcement of LSAV’s 10-year extension in May and reflects a strong endorsement of both our sector-leading operating platform and the purpose-built student accommodation sector from GIC.
“The transaction means we have now delivered over £260m of disposals in the year to date on a Unite share basis. This provides us with significant capacity to reinvest in our development pipeline, including opportunities in London.”
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