Scape Australia has emerged as the largest student accommodation owner and operator in the country after taking over the Atira portfolio of facilities controlled by funds manager Blue Sky and investment bank Goldman Sachs in a $700 million deal.

The six existing student digs facilities on the Atira platform – in Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide – will seed a new core fund launched by Scape and backed by Allianz Real Estate and AXA Group for total equity capacity of $1.5 billion.