The deal will mean Unite has 75,000 student beds
Unite Group is set to become a £10bn student accommodation giant having agreed to acquire Empiric Student Property for £723m.
Unite is already the largest UK developer, owner and manager of student accommodation in Britain, mostly offering accommodation for first-year undergraduates. Empiric operates under the Hello Student brand, housing students in 23 UK cities.
Unite currently owns around 68,000 student beds, whereas London-based Empiric has 7,700 beds.
The deal values Empiric’s shares at about 94.2 pence excluding dividends.
Once complete, it will mean Unite is worth £10.5bn, with a total of 75,000 student beds.
Following the deal, Empiric shareholders will own 10% of the group, with Unite shareholders holding the remainder.
Richard Huntingford, chair of Unite said: “Acquiring Empiric’s high-quality and complementary portfolio accelerates our growth into the attractive returner student segment, enabling us to better serve students throughout their academic journey.
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“Unite is uniquely positioned to unlock significant synergies and accelerate earnings growth for both sets of shareholders. Alongside university partnerships and our significant development pipeline, the acquisition provides a new growth driver to deliver enhanced scale and long-term value for shareholders.”
Unite, which posted turnover of nearly £400m last year, entered due diligence on the proposal to buy Empiric in June. Empiric’s most recent turnover was £84m.
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