Canada Pension Plan, GIC and Scion to Acquire UHC for $1.4 Billion

by Scott Reid

Oak Brook, Ill. — Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, GIC and The Scion Group have formed a student housing joint venture to acquire, through a subsidiary, University House Communities Group for approximately $1.4 billion.

Oak Brook-based InvenTrust Properties Corp. will sell its UHC student housing platform to the subsidiary, UHC Acquisition Sub. CPPIB and GIC will each own a 47.5 percent interest in UHC through the joint venture, Scion Student Communities. The Scion Group will own the remaining 5 percent.

“Partnering with two of the world’s premier real estate investors is a wonderful opportunity for Scion,” says Rob Bronstein, Scion’s president. “This milestone is the result of Scion’s 15 years of intense focus on student housing, as well as the strong track record of investor returns we’ve been able to deliver. The InvenTrust portfolio is an ideal way to begin our venture with CPPIB and GIC and we are excited to welcome both UHC’s assets and its strong team into our company.”

“The sale of University House marks the culmination of our portfolio evolution strategy to focus our energies and investment capital into our multi-tenant retail platform,” says Thomas McGuinness, CEO and president of InvenTrust.

The UHC portfolio includes 18 stabilized, Class A student housing properties, four communities under development, and nearly 13,000 beds.

The acquisition price includes the cost to complete the current development projects.

Scion will manage and operate the portfolio. The transaction is expected to close in the middle of the year.

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