Empiric Student Property acquires seven properties for £41.6m

22nd Jun 2015 10:57

Investment group Empiric Student Property (ESP) has acquired seven properties, housing student accommodation in Liverpool and Stoke-on-Trent, from Urban Sleep for £41.6m.The London-listed company said the properties were worth £22.8m, adding it had also assumed responsibility for the existing £18.8m debt on the facilities.Urban Sleep will continue to manage the properties, which comprise 502 beds in total and are already 92% pre-let for the 2015-16 academic year, on behalf of ESP."The acquisition of this portfolio from Urban Sleep represents an efficient deployment of equity capital in one transaction and provides Empiric with exposure to two new university cities with top 40 universities," said group chief executive Paul Hadaway.Hadaway added the acquisition was in line with the group's investment criteria and returns profile.Empiric shares were down 0.34% to 108.62p at 11:50 on Monday.