SINGAPORE – Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd (“Mapletree” or “the Group”) has completed the acquisition of a portfolio of seven student accommodation assets located across six states in the United States (“US”) from Kayne Anderson Real Estate Advisors. This also marks the Group’s maiden acquisition of student accommodation in the US, being the largest student accommodation market globally. The Group currently also has a portfolio of serviced apartment / corporate lodging assets in the US.

Supporting Tier 1 US universities which have good national rankings, the portfolio caters to institutions with high enrolments which have compounded annual growth rate of more than 2% over the last 10 years. All seven properties within the quality portfolio are purpose built in the last two to three years and come well-furnished with fittings and amenities such as common rooms, games areas, reading rooms, gyms, swimming pools, etc. The majority of them are located less than 0.5 miles from the respective university campuses (see Annex below). The robustness in the portfolio is underpinned by growing demand for purpose built student accommodation where supply continues to be limited in the seven universities sub-markets, and with undergraduate enrolment in the US expected to continue to grow in the coming years. 

This latest acquisition follows the Group’s earlier entry into the student accommodation asset class in March 2016 when it acquired a portfolio of 25 properties in the United Kingdom (“UK”). This portfolio comprises close to 6,000 beds and is spread across 12 core university cities including London, Oxford, Manchester, Edinburgh, Birmingham and Liverpool.

Said Mr Hiew Yoon Khong, Mapletree’s Group Chief Executive Officer: “The healthy demand for higher education globally coupled with the quality of academic institutions in the US and UK present a strong investment case for purpose built student accommodation. In view of the growing demand for quality tertiary education, both from local US and UK as well as international students, we intend to further scale up in these growth markets. Our aim is to build a strong global platform with this defensive and resilient asset class.”

The acquisition is in line with Mapletree’s strategy to invest beyond Asia. Since 2014, the Group has taken steps to diversify its business outside of Asia in developed markets such as the US, UK and Australia. Aimed at growing stable, recurring income streams, the majority of Mapletree’s acquisitions in these markets are income-producing assets. As at end of FY 15/16, the total assets under management in these developed markets were about S$3.5 billion and are expected to grow significantly over the next three years.