IQ Student Accommodation is a British student housing company that owns 70 halls of residence with 30,000 bedrooms. It is owned by Blackstone,[1] one of the world's largest real estate investment firms.
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History
editIn 2016, the Wellcome Trust merged its student accommodation business with Prodigy Living, owned by Goldman Sachs and Greystar Real Estate Partners, thereby founding the company.[2]
In December 2017, IQ Student Accommodation bought Pure Student Living from LetterOne Treasury Services for £869 million, adding 11 sites in London, Edinburgh, York, Bath and Brighton.[3]
As of February 2018, IQ owned 66 student halls,[2] with 28,000 bedrooms, and a valuation of about £3 billion.[3] IQ is the UK's largest provider of purpose-built student accommodation by value, and second largest by number of bedrooms (after Unite Students).[2] IQ has the largest London portfolio, with 6,700 rooms in 15 sites.[3]
In February 2018, Penny Hughes was appointed as chair, joining Rob Roger who was the chief executive (CEO).[2]
In June 2019, it was announced that IQ Student Accommodation was planning to build a cohabitation development in Manchester, not specifically aimed at students.[1][4] This would be the first development of this kind in Manchester.[1]
In February 2020, Blackstone announced plans to purchase the company for £4.66 billion,[5] in the UK's largest ever private real estate transaction. The deal completed on 15 May 2020.[6]
During April 2023, IQ purchased a 522-bed student accommodation in Nottingham from the Jensco Group for £68.12m (€77.4m).[7]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Blackstone to buy UK student flats from Goldman for £4.7bn". ft.com. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
- ^ a b c d Curry, Rhiannon (18 February 2018). "RBS director to chair UK's largest student digs company". The Telegraph. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 10 September 2018 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
- ^ a b c Lynch, Russell (19 February 2018). "London student digs giant iQ eyes float after £870m buy". Evening Standard. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
- ^ Armstrong, Kate (12 June 2019). "Investing in the UK: Where to look". Investors Chronicle. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
- ^ "Blackstone to buy British student housing group iQ for $6 billion". Reuters. 26 February 2020. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
- ^ "Goldman Sachs and Wellcome sell iQ Student Accommodation to Blackstone". 15 May 2020.
- ^ staff2023-04-13T11:37:00+01:00, I. P. E. "Jensco sells £68m UK student housing asset to Blackstone-owned iQ Student". Real Assets. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
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