Centurion to acquire freehold student accommodation in Nottingham

CENTURION Corp : OU8 0% will acquire a 103-bed freehold student accommodation asset in Nottingham in the United Kingdom for £10.4 million (S$18 million), the mainboard-listed company said in a late-night bourse filing on Thursday (May 19).

The group expects the acquisition to enlarge its purpose-build student accommodation (PBSA) portfolio in the UK to 2,910 beds in 11 assets across 5 cities. This includes 5 assets in Manchester, 3 in Nottingham, and 1 each in Liverpool, Bristol and Newcastle.

The building in Nottingham was built in 2018 and is now operating as The Orbital. It will be rebranded as dwell Orbital upon completion of the purchase, and be managed with the group’s 2 other PBSA assets in Nottingham - dwell Castle Gate Haus and dwell Archer House.

The group, which operates purpose-built worker and student accommodation, noted that Nottingham is a strong PBSA market. “The Nottingham City Council estimates that there will be a shortfall of 2,000 PBSA beds in Nottingham, even after all current pipeline beds are completed, and a further shortfall of 5,000 PBSA beds by the academic year 2024/2025,” said Centurion.

The building, located in Canning Circus, is a short walk from Nottingham Trent University and accessible to Nottingham University. It is well-served by a wide selection of retail and food and beverage outlets, as well as various attractions and entertainment venues.

The group said its UK portfolio made a strong recovery in occupancies in the academic year 2021/2022, which began last September. The Orbital and Centurion’s existing 2 PBSA assets in Nottingham are close to full capacity for the academic year, it added.

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Centurion chief executive officer Kong Chee Min said the new asset is expected to be accretive upon completion of the purchase, and enable the group to further tap management synergies in Nottingham and the UK.

Shares of Centurion ended the day at S$0.35, down S$0.005 or 1.4 per cent.