SINGAPORE - Real estate giant Mapletree Investments has acquired 8,192 student housing beds across 19 cities in the UK and Germany from Cuscaden Peak Investments, in a deal worth £1 billion (S$1.7 billion).

The acquisition brings Mapletree’s overall student housing portfolio to a total of 33,000 beds across 47 cities in the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany and Canada, with total assets under management of $6.2 billion.

It also positions the group as “one of the largest owners of student housing in the UK”, with more than 17,000 beds, Mapletree said on April 12.

The April 12 acquisition also includes an operating platform, which provides Mapletree with direct operational control of the newly acquired portfolio.

The portfolio includes assets located in “key university cities” in the UK such as Bristol, Cambridge, Durham, Edinburgh, Oxford and York, as well as Bremen in Germany, Mapletree said.

“The acquisition is part of Mapletree’s strategy to grow the student accommodation sector in the UK, the US, Europe and Australia, which remain underserved by quality student housing assets,” noted group chief executive officer Hiew Yoon Khong.

“The student housing sector is one of the group’s core real estate focus areas due to its fundamental demand-supply imbalance and defensive characteristics,” Mr Hiew added.

Mapletree Investments is the manager of three real estate investment trusts listed on the Singapore Exchange: Mapletree Logistics Trust, Mapletree Industrial Trust and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust.

It is also part of a consortium – along with Hotel Properties Limited and CLA Real Estate Holdings – that owns Cuscaden Peak, of which Cuscaden Peak Investments is a wholly owned subsidiary. THE BUSINESS TIMES