Greystar Closes on $1B Buy of GIC-Wee Hur Aussie Student Housing

Greystar has closed on its largest Asia Pacific acquisition to date with the US multi-family housing giant putting a final seal on its buy of an Australian student housing portfolio from Singapore sovereign fund GIC and SGX-listed Wee Hur Holdings.

The closure of Greystar’s A$1.6 billion ($1.01 billion) purchase of the seven-asset portfolio was revealed in an announcement to the Singapore stock exchange late Tuesday by Wee Hur, concluding a deal signed in mid-December.

Completion of the transaction provides 5,662 student beds to complement Greystar’s fast-growing portfolio of rental apartments in Australia as pension funds, insurers and other institutional investors increasingly look for ways to boost their exposure rental housing assets globally.

With international student enrollments on the rise in Australia, more investors have struck deals for student housing in Australia in the months since Greystar came to terms with GIC and Wee Hur, including major commitments by Korea’s National Pension Service and M&G Real Estate of the UK.

Conditions Fulfilled

Wee Hur’s statement on Tuesday came after the company had announced on 4 March that Australian regulators had notified the company that they had no objections to the sale of the portfolio, fulfilling the final condition under the sale and purchase agreement signed in mid-December.

Following completion of the sale, GIC has completely exited from its investment in the portfolio, which spans the cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra, while Wee Hur will have a 13 percent equity interest in the new ownership.

The Singaporean investor and developer received net proceeds of S$320 million ($237 million), following adjustments, according to its statement at the time that the deal was signed. GIC has yet to comment on the sale of the student housing portfolio.

Prior to the sale, GIC had held a 49.9 percent stake in the vehicle holding the seven purpose-built student accommodation assets, with the remainder belonging to a Wee Hur-managed fund.

At the transaction price, Greystar paid A$282,585 per bed to acquire the portfolio, with a report by JLL last year estimating that Australia was facing demand for 10,500 new student housing beds annually for the next five years against just 3,500 beds each year.

Bunking Up

Greystar completed its student housing buy after Australia welcomed a record 1.1 million international students last year, up from 961,000 in 2023, according to government statistics, with Greystar pointing to undersupply in the sector.

“Australia’s student housing sector is experiencing strong demand, driven by its world-class education institutions, a growing international student population, and an undersupply of institutional-quality housing,” Greystar executive director of investment management for Asia Pacific Adam Pillay said in announcing the deal in December.

With the acquisition completed, Greystar has said that it will invest in upgrading the properties, and look to leverage it operational capabilities to enhance services. As the South Carolina-based company already has more than 110,000 beds in Europe and North America under its global student housing strategy, it plans to align its new properties with its existing branding and design conventions, according to statements by the company.

Just a few weeks after Greystar agreed to terms with Wee Hur and GIC, Australia’s largest student housing provider, Scape, said that it had secured an A$700 million ($434.3 million) equity commitment from South Korea’s National Pension Service to be invested across a number of living sector investment strategies.

Early last month the UK’s M&G Real Estate made its first venture in Australia’s student housing market, picking up a property in Melbourne for $61.8 million.