The Unite Group plc

Unite was founded in 1991 in Bristol and has grown to become the UK's largest owner, manager, and developer of PBSA serving the country's world-leading higher education sector. Unite provides homes to 68,000 students across 152 properties in 23 leading university towns and cities. Unite also partners with over 60 universities across the UK, with 93 per cent of the rental portfolio by value in Russell Group cities. It is the Empiric assets in certain high-value cities, mainly Russell Group, which form a key part of the commercial attraction of the transaction for Unite. In addition to Unite's wholly-owned portfolio, Unite has partnered successfully with private capital and other investors, including via a London-focused JV with GIC, the multi-investor fund USAF, and recently university partnerships with Newcastle University and Manchester Metropolitan University. Acquisitions have also formed a key part of the growth of the Unite business, most notably with the acquisition and successful integration of Liberty Living for £1.4 billion in 2019, leveraging Unite's operating platform and delivering £18 million of annual cost synergies. Unite has delivered attractive returns for shareholders over many years, including annualised EPS growth of 10.5 per cent. over the last ten years. Unite has also consistently traded at a premium relative to other companies in the sector, with an average nil discount to last reported EPRA NTA per share. over the last three years and an approximate 12 per cent. premium over the last ten years. Today, Unite is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index with a market capitalisation of £4.2 billion as at the Last Undisturbed Trading Date.