Macquarie Asset Management partners with experienced industry specialist to acquire pan-European student housing platform

Macquarie Asset Management expands its presence into the European Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) sector, signing an agreement to acquire and combine two specialist platforms – MILESTONE and BaseStack Living.

The transaction will bring together two complementary businesses to create a vertically integrated specialist PBSA platform managing over 12,000 beds across eight countries including Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Poland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Denmark. The new combined platform will have an immediate pan-European footprint with local on-the-ground development and operational expertise providing an attractive foundation for growth.

The owner of BaseStack Living, Justin Hamer, will remain as a shareholder alongside Macquarie Asset Management and be appointed as Chief Executive Officer for the new group.  Mr Hamer is an experienced leader and sector specialist after co-founding Basecamp Student which was ultimately sold as part of an approx. €1 billion transaction to Xior Student Housing NV in 2022.

Justin Hamer, the incoming Chief Executive Officer of the new combined platform, said: “This transaction comes at a time when the PBSA market in Europe is still at an early stage, while experiencing strong growth and increased institutional investor participation. There is a fundamental and critical undersupply of suitable accommodation for students across all major European cities with less than one bed per 10 full time students. We are thrilled to partner with Macquarie Asset Management to both buy and build new purpose-built and professionally managed student housing to tackle this investment opportunity.”

Brendan Jones, Head of Real Estate in EMEA at Macquarie Asset Management, said: “This transaction marks a new chapter in our European real estate strategy. We are pleased to close the acquisition of the MILESTONE and BaseStack Living businesses and partner with their very experienced and capable management teams to realise our mutual growth ambitions. Combining these complementary businesses creates a solid cornerstone on which to build a sector-specialist platform that will own, develop, operate and manage capital on behalf of its clients. Over time we expect to scale the offering across major European markets, which will help to alleviate pressure on the residential rental market and provide more specialised and affordable housing options for students.”

This transaction is indicative of Macquarie Asset Management’s real estate investment strategy with a current network of 16 specialist operator investments globally, offering clients access to a differentiated approach and local market expertise by investing in and partnering with specialist operators to create opportunities in difficult-to-access sectors.