UK’s largest student landlord offers to buy rival in £705m deal

Under the plans, Unite would pay 30p in cash plus 0.09 Unite shares for each Empiric share. Therefore, based on Unite’s closing share price of 855.5p on 4 June, the proposal values each Empiric share at 107p.

Empiric’s board agreed with Unite to enter an initial period of due diligence, suggesting the bid is in the region of what it would consider accepting. However, Empiric said “there can be no certainty that an offer will be made”, or what the final terms would be.

According to takeover laws, Unite has until 5pm on 3 July to either make a firm offer or walk away from the deal.

Empiric confirmed that it received the non-binding proposal from Unite on 7 May.

Both landlords have reported that their buildings were not letting as quickly for the next academic year, which begins in September, as in 2023 or 2024.

To counter that, they have been trying to concentrate their property in the highest-performing university cities.

Unite has sold 12,000 beds since 2022. This week, it announced that it has pulled out of Aberdeen entirely, as it sold off nine properties across the UK to private equity firm Lone Star Funds.

News of this deal comes as one landlord highlighted that build-to-rent (BTR) operators are trying to “drive down” the number of students living in their buildings.

Gina McMorran, head of student operations at Moda Living, said BTR landlords were targeting young professionals and families who did not want to hear “noise in the evenings when they come home from work”.

BTR operators “will consistently try to drive down the student demographic in their buildings”, she told a panel discussion at the StuRents Summit in London on 5 June.