DIF Capital Partners (“DIF”) is pleased to announce that it has reached financial close on the London School of Economics & Political Science student accommodation PPP located in London. The deal will be transacted through DIF Infrastructure V. DIF has a 80.1% stake in the project, with the university retaining the remaining 19.9% stake.

The project is a greenfield PPP that includes the design, build, financing, operations and maintenance of new student accommodation facilities that comprise 676 beds, communal spaces, a gym, three roof terraces, a cinema room and two courtyard gardens.

Design, build, operations and maintenance will be completed by Engie Regeneration, which is a subsidiary of Equans, a global contractor in the utility, industry and infrastructure sectors. Long-dated funding has been provided by Pension Insurance Corporation, which is a UK-based specialist insurer of defined benefit pension funds.

Gijs Voskuyl, Partner and Head of Investments for the DIF V and VI strategy, says: “DIF is excited to be growing its portfolio in the student accommodation sector. We look forward to partnering with a world-class university and to support it with its student accommodation delivery”.

Ian Spencer, LSE Director of Residential Services: “One of the priorities in LSE’s 2030 strategy is to Develop the LSE for Everyone. For Residential Services this means guaranteeing an offer of accommodation to all first-year students. The Glengall Rd development takes us a significant step towards that goal by providing 676 affordable rooms for our graduate students”.

QMPF provided the School with financial and commercial advice throughout the process, the School’s legal advisers, Pinsent Masons, provided legal advice and Student First Group advised on the design, build and operation of the new halls.

DIF was advised by DWPF (financial), Centrus (debt arranger), Mills & Reeve (legal), Grant Thornton (tax & accounting), Gleeds (technical) and JLL (commercial).

About DIF Capital Partners
DIF Capital Partners is a leading global independent investment manager, with more than €9.0 billion in assets under management across nine closed-end infrastructure funds and several co-investment vehicles. DIF invests in infrastructure companies and assets located primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Australasia through two complementary strategies:

• Traditional DIF funds target equity investments with long-term contracted or regulated income streams including public-private partnerships, concessions, utilities, and (renewable) energy projects.
• DIF CIF funds target equity investments in small to mid-sized economic infrastructure assets in the telecom, energy transition, and transportation sectors.

DIF Capital Partners has a team of over 170 professionals, based in ten offices located in Amsterdam (Schiphol), Frankfurt, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, New York, Paris, Santiago, Sydney, and Toronto. For more information please visit www.dif.eu.

 

More information

Thijs Verburg, IR & BD

t.verburg@dif.eu