Avignon will be implementing the business plan and leading the strategic asset management. Saltwater Place will be operated by Homes for Students under their Prestige Living Brand whilst Mary Parker House will be managed by CRM Students.
Nick Barton Cliffe, UK Investment Manager at Avignon Capital comments:
“Together, Saltwater Place and Mary Parker House offer 513 student accommodation rooms, all of which have been fully occupied over the last three academic years. Both assets are well located within Plymouth city centre with ease of access to the university campuses, transport hubs and the main retail and leisure offering within the city.
Plymouth is experiencing a highly undersupplied PBSA market, with growing student numbers across the three HEIs but a severe shortage of supply. With no developments in the pipeline, we expect the supply-demand imbalance to continue in the medium term, making these properties a highly attractive investment opportunity. The acquisition generates a highly resilient income stream with no immediate capital expenditures required.
This acquisition launches Avignon Capital’s UK PBSA expansion, targeting high-quality mid-market opportunities. The focus is on accumulating a strong, high-yield portfolio with scalable exit options”.
Jon Silvosa, Investment Director at Veld Capital, added:
“The high income and opportunistic nature of these acquisitions proved particularly attractive to Veld, offering strong unlevered and levered cash-on-cash yields on a core asset class for us and on a location with very solid supply-demand fundamentals.
The high yielding nature of these investments will allow Veld to materially de-risk ‘equity at risk’ during the investment period, while providing optionality on exit timings for a ‘proven to be’ relatively liquid and non-cyclical asset class, offering an outstanding risk profile to our investors”.
Acquisition financing for both assets has been provided by Barclays PLC.
Beachrock and Cushman & Wakefield acted as advisors to the vendors and Danesborough Properties advised the purchasers.
