Cain and Fusion create €1.78b U.K. purpose-built student accommodation platform

Cain International has established a new joint venture with leading student accommodation developer Fusion Students to invest in purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) across popular U.K. university cities.

The joint venture partners already have assets under exclusivity in Portsmouth, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, Birmingham and London totaling more than 3,000 beds and plan to create a portfolio worth circa £1.5 billion (€1.78 billion/$2.03 billion) comprising 7,500–10,000 beds.

The joint venture will be looking to make acquisitions across major university cities via the forward funding and forward purchase of new schemes both together and with other developers, with a focus on Russell Group universities and London.

“The PBSA sector has proven robust over the course of the pandemic, and with UCAS [Universities and Colleges Admissions Service] applications at an all-time high last year, this is only set to grow further as the value of a premi