Greystar faces competition for UniLodge as Warburg Pincus shows interest

A UniLodge student accommodation complex in Brisbane.

US-based private equity firm Warburg Pincus is believed to be eyeing student accommodation platform UniLodge in a move that would give contest favourite Greystar a run for its money.

DataRoom understands that UniLodge launched a sale process through UBS after Greystar came forward with an approach to buy the business.

The US housing giant invests in Australia’s build-to-rent market as well as student accommodation.

The Australian reported in 2024 that Greystar, with backing from The Future Fund, had bought a $1.6bn student housing portfolio from Singapore company Wee Her, which is controlled by Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC.

UBS had tested interest with Australian listed real estate investors, but DataRoom understands that none are in the sale process to date.

Unilodge has come up on offer after Goldman Sachs was earlier searching for a buyer for the $2bn student accommodation provider Campus Living, with Cedar Pacific believed to be interested, at least at the initial stages.

Some estimate that UniLodge’s sale price would be $500m-$600m, because while it is the largest provider of student accommodation in Australia, it does not own the hard assets, only manages them for third parties.

It manages more than 100 furnished, self-catered accommodation buildings across Australia and New Zealand, which comprise over 36,000 beds.

The ownership structure would have some appeal to investors that favour investment without major demands for capital spending, rather just generating fee income.

IBISWorld says UniLodge has 26 per cent market share of the Australian student housing management industry.

Interest by Warburg Pincus would coincide with efforts to buy the $2bn-plus money lender La Trobe Financial, which is owned by Brookfield and has been on the market through UBS and Morgan Stanley.

Warburg Pincus, advised by Goldman Sachs, was believed to be the final bidder left in the competition.

Warburg Pincus also weighed a deal for Fonterra’s spin-off that included its Australia and New Zealand dairy brands Mainland Group, which was sold to Lactalis for $3.5bn.

The private equity firm also had exposure to Cromwell Property Group through a stake that was recently sold to Brookfield. Hong Kong’s ESR, which has about $US154bn ($234bn) of assets under management, is owned by a consortium including Starwood Capital and Warburg Pincus. It inherited the Cromwell stake through its acquisition of the LOGOS industrial property specialist backer ARA Asset Management.