The world’s two largest property investors, Blackstone and Brookfield have joined bidders for IQ, a UK student accommodation company.
As reported by the Financial Times, five potential bidders are considering purchasing the London-based company, expected to be sold for around £4 billion.
IQSA (IQ Student Accommodation) owns and operates 67 student accommodation sites in the UK, from Dundee to Plymouth, with over 80 per cent of its business in Russell Group universities.
IQ’s Oxford Accommodation offers students private rooms in Alice House, located just over Magdalen Bridge in Cowley.
The pair, an American and Canadian business respectively, have long sought student accommodation as a revenue stream, and are preparing bids for a pre-Christmas deadline. Sources close to the deal suspect the cost to reach £4 billion.
Goldman Sachs and the Wellcome Trust, the current owners of IQ, are preparing an “initial public offering” of the business.
Goldman Sachs, which owns 70 per cent of IQ, joined forces with the Wellcome Trust, a medical research charity, in 2016.
Greystar, a US property company, Mapletree, a Singapore real estate investor, and Patrizia, a German real estate firm, are the other companies which are considering bidding for IQ.
