Ardian, a world-leading private investment house, and Rockfield, a vertically integrated student housing platform with offices in Madrid and Amsterdam, have launched a long-term, strategic partnership to invest in Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) assets across Continental Europe. Together, they aim to identify best-in-class assets demonstrating a strong environmental performance to address the supply-demand imbalance across the continent. In this partnership Ardian will act as investment manager.
CBRE Investment Management, a leading global real assets investment management firm, will act as a founding investor with an initial equity commitment of €500 million through its Indirect Private Real Estate Strategies on behalf of global institutional investors.
The strategy aims to create a diversified portfolio of high-quality PBSA assets and will focus on European markets where student housing is in high demand and short supply, specifically in Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Germany and France. The first investments are expected to be concluded before year-end. Leading education hubs, characterized by a strong concentration of universities, a growing student population, and limited existing PBSA provision will be of prime importance for the strategy.
Target acquisitions will be predominantly income-producing properties, as well as selective forward purchase opportunities, to capture value through the development of new, high-quality student residences. With a core+ focus, the strategy aims to create value by enhancing the operational performance of its assets, as well as their potential to contribute to the global effort of reducing GHG emissions in line with the Paris Agreement.
“We are delighted to partner with Rockfield on this exciting initiative and proud of CBRE IM’s trust and strong support in seeding the strategy. There is an unprecedent window of opportunity in investing in European PBSA markets due to a lack of liquidity and structural undersupply in leading university cities, combined with increasing demand predominantly driven by demographics. We believe that Ardian and Rockfield’s joint expertise and strong cultural alignment position us perfectly to address this widening supply/demand gap in the student housing market for high-quality assets with a robust environmental performance and with the potential for further operational improvement”, commented Matteo Minardi, Head of Real Estate Italy and Managing Director, Ardian .
The strategy will harness the expertise of Ardian’s local real estate teams, with deep market knowledge and strong networks across offices in four European markets. The team will bring technical and financial expertise through all phases of the investment cycle, from deal origination and due diligence to execution and asset management. Ardian also brings its expertise in sustainability, which uses a proprietary methodology to measure and monitor ESG performance and delivers tangible results.
“Our strategic partnership with Ardian starts with probably one of the largest pots of dry powder capital ready to invest in student accommodation across the continent. Europe is a growing global education hub with student numbers expected to rise by 10% by 2031. With over a decade of experience investing in European PBSA markets, our specialist international investment teams are well-positioned to take advantage of the unprecedented opportunities now available that meet our risk/return and sustainability requirements”, stated Juan Acosta, Partner and CIO, Rockfield.
Rockfield brings a strong PBSA investment track record: in the last 10 years, the company has developed and managed 5,000 units across the sector and has strong sourcing capabilities and deep market knowledge. The Rockfield team will work alongside Ardian to identify investment opportunities and provide asset and property management and development services.
“The student housing market across Continental Europe presents a compelling and resilient growth opportunity, while the investment landscape is fragmented. This strategy enables us to strategically access the market on a pan-European scale, leveraging the combined expertise of Ardian and Rockfield. We are thrilled to partner with them and look forward to deploying capital into this attractive asset class”, added Line Verroken, Senior Director, CBRE IM Indirect Private Real Estate.
Ardian, Rockfield and CBRE IM have been respectively advised by Linklaters, Garrigues and Jones Day.
Sustainability will be at the core of the strategy, with assets needing to achieve a GHG intensity level on Scope 1 and 2 emissions that aligns with the objective of the Paris Agreement. The strategy’s sustainability approach will seek to improve the environmental performance of the assets and to procure renewable energy.
