REG - Empiric Student Prop - Further update on deployment of placing proceeds

Empiric Student PropertyAnnouncement

17/04/2025 07:00

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RNS Number : 3472F  Empiric Student Property PLC  17 April 2025

 

Empiric Student Property plc

("Empiric" or the "Company" or, together with its subsidiaries, the "Group")

 

Further update on deployment of placing proceeds

& planning consent achieved at College House, Bristol

 

Empiric Student Property plc (ticker: ESP), the owner and operator of premium,
studio-led student accommodation aligned to top-tier universities, is pleased
to provide a further update on the deployment of proceeds from the Company's
October 2024 equity fundraise into a new fully operational acquisition, and
announce the receipt of planning permission to add 57 new Postgraduate beds to
our Bristol cluster.

Growing our prime clusters - new Birmingham acquisition

The Company has completed the acquisition of Selly Oak Apartments in
Birmingham for £9.0 million. Selly Oak Apartments, a 63-bed mixed studio and
shared apartment scheme, is strategically located opposite our existing Selly
Oak cluster and less than five minutes' walk to the University of Birmingham,
a growing top-tier Russell Group University.

The property grows our total operational beds in this cluster to 430 and
allows us to immediately unlock further operational efficiencies and improve
the low amenity offer currently available to residents of Selly Oak
Apartments. This operational PBSA asset has been acquired fully-let for the
2024/25 academic year and is expected to deliver a yield in excess of our
targeted 6 per cent from September 2025, as well as offering the potential for
unlevered IRRs over the next five years in excess of 10%.

This is the second acquisition following the Company's equity fundraise in
October last year and completes the deployment of proceeds that were earmarked
for acquisition opportunities. The remaining funds have been allocated to our
Postgraduate refurbishment pipeline and we remain on track with preparatory
works across three of our existing sites earmarked for conversion to our
Postgraduate product, where we have allocated £10 million for investment in
2025. In the meantime, proceeds have been temporarily used to prepay a
flexible debt facility.

Growing our Postgraduate offer - planning consent received at College House,
Bristol

We are pleased to announce that we have achieved planning consent from Bristol
City Council for the transformation of College House, a former office building
acquired in February 2024, into a 57-bed, all-studio student accommodation
scheme for Postgraduate students. This consent improves upon the initial
32-bed residential permission obtained in June 2024.

College House is located moments from the University of Bristol campus and
adjacent to our existing College Green site, providing access to extensive
amenity and study areas within our existing cluster of accommodation in the
city. Proceeds from the Company's equity fundraise will be deployed towards
the property's transformation which is expected to be completed and available
for occupation in early 2026.

Duncan Garrood, Chief Executive Officer of Empiric Student Property,
commented: "The acquisition of Selly Oak Apartments completes the deployment
of proceeds which were earmarked for acquisition opportunities, in line with
returns indicated. Birmingham is a top-tier University city where over 50,000
students currently seek accommodation in a city with provision of only 27,500
PBSA beds, and less than 10,000 new beds currently consented for future
development.

The Company continues to improve the quality and resilience of its portfolio.
Since March 2021 it has sold nearly £150 million of non-core assets and will
continue to dispose of non-aligned properties when market opportunities and
appropriate pricing allows. This acquisition, together with the planning
consent achieved to expand our Bristol cluster, supports the strategy outlined
in the October equity raise of growing a portfolio of high quality buildings
which enhance shareholder returns and benefit from increasing alignment to
top-tier universities (currently at 87%)."

ENDS

 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE COMPANY, PLEASE CONTACT:

 Empiric Student Property plc                                 (via FTI Consulting below)
 Duncan Garrood (Chief Executive Officer)
 Donald Grant (Chief Financial & Sustainability Officer)

 FTI Consulting                                               020 3727 1000

 Dido Laurimore                                               empiric@fticonsulting.com (mailto:empiric@fticonsulting.com)

 Eve Kirmatzis

 

The Company's LEI is 213800FPF38IBPRFPU87.

 

Further information on Empiric can be found on the Company's website at
www.empiric.co.uk (http://www.empiric.co.uk/) .

 

Notes:

Empiric Student Property plc is a leading provider and operator of modern,
predominantly direct-let, premium student accommodation serving key UK
universities. Investing in both operating and development assets, Empiric is a
fully integrated operational student property business focused on premium
studio-led accommodation managed through its Hello Student operating platform,
that is attractive to affluent growing student segments.

 

The Company, an internally managed real estate investment trust ("REIT")
incorporated in England and Wales, listed on the Equity Shares segment of the
Official List of the Financial Conduct Authority and was admitted to trading
on the main market for listed securities of the London Stock Exchange in June
2014. The Company is classified as a commercial company listed under the UK
Listing rules and as such is not an alternative investment fund ("AIF") for
the purposes of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive ("AIFMD")
and is not required to provide investors with a Key information Document
("KID") in accordance with the Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment
Products ("PRIIPs") regulations.

 

 

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