Macquarie Asset Management acquires European PBSA platform

Australia’s Macquarie Asset Management is entering the European student housing market through the acquisition and merger of specialist platforms Milestone and BaseStack Living.

Justin Hamer

The parties did not reveal the value of the deal.
The vertically-integrated PBSA platform will manage the 12,000-bed portfolio across Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Poland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Denmark.
This combination creates a vertically integrated platform with significant scale and local expertise, positioning the company for future growth.
Justin Hamer, the owner of BaseStack Living and the former co-founder of Basecamp Student, will lead the new pan-European platform as CEO. 
Justin Hamer, the incoming CEO of the new combined platform, said: “This transaction comes at a time when the PBSA market in Europe is still at an early stage, while experiencing strong growth and increased institutional investor participation. There is a fundamental and critical undersupply of suitable accommodation for students across all major European cities with less than one bed per 10 full time students. We are thrilled to partner with Macquarie Asset Management to both buy and build new purpose-built and professionally managed student housing to tackle this investment opportunity.”
Brendan Jones, head of Real Estate in EMEA at Macquarie Asset Management, added: “This transaction marks a new chapter in our European real estate strategy. We are pleased to close the acquisition of the Milestone and BaseStack Living businesses and partner with their very experienced and capable management teams to realise our mutual growth ambitions. Combining these complementary businesses creates a solid cornerstone on which to build a sector-specialist platform that will own, develop, operate and manage capital on behalf of its clients. Over time we expect to scale the offering across major European markets, which will help to alleviate pressure on the residential rental market and provide more specialised and affordable housing options for students.”