Greystar announces strategic partnership of up to £2.2bn with ADIA to develop build to rent in London; confirms Fizzy Living acquisition

• New strategic partnership will execute a growth strategy of ground-up build to rent development in and around London
• The development-led growth strategy is targeting a pipeline of £1.8bn in total capitalisation and includes a new seed asset in Battersea
• Greystar confirms acquisition of Fizzy Living from Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing; will take over management of nearly 1,000 operational homes and welcome around 30 new employees from Fizzy Living

LONDON – 16 December 2021 – Greystar Real Estate Partners LLC (“Greystar”), a global leader in the investment, development and management of high quality rental housing properties, has announced a new strategic partnership with a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (“ADIA”) of up to £2.2 billion to develop build to rent housing in London and its surrounding commuter towns.

The growth strategy will focus on delivering new assets through ground-up development leveraging Greystar’s extensive experience and track record in the market. Since launching its UK business in 2013, Greystar has executed more than £8bn in transaction activity in the market. The strategic partnership will be supported by Greystar’s extensive pipeline and an operating platform of more than 700 team members across Europe.

The strategic partnership is targeting a development pipeline of approximately £1.8bn in total capitalisation and equity commitments of up to £750m between the partners. Greystar agreed to purchase a 0.84-acre site subject to planning on Lombard Road in Battersea, London, for £31m in June 2021 that will become the partnership’s first new seed asset.

This represents the second portfolio of scale to be developed by Greystar with ADIA subsidiaries in Europe. Since 2015, Greystar and ADIA subsidiaries have created a portfolio of more than 6,000 homes for students and young professionals in the Netherlands under the OurDomain brand.

In conjunction with the new strategic partnership, Greystar will assume management of the Fizzy Living portfolio, which comprises nearly 1,000 homes, from Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (“MTVH”). Greystar also confirms the acquisition of Fizzy Living from MTVH at an implied portfolio valuation in the region of £400m. As part of the transaction, the Fizzy Living brand and more than 30 employees will move across to Greystar, significantly increasing the company’s already sizeable footprint in London.

The Fizzy Living assets are well-located and close to public transport in Canning Town, Lewisham, Epsom, Stepney Green, Poplar, Walthamstow, Hayes and Silvertown. Greystar will implement a proactive value-add strategy across the portfolio, including capital improvements and other operational enhancements.

Mark Allnutt, Senior Managing Director – Europe, Greystar, said: “Demographic trends and a severe structural undersupply of housing is driving demand for high quality rental homes in the UK, so this remains a high conviction investment strategy for Greystar. We have a highly successful relationship with ADIA in the Netherlands and now have a unique opportunity to create a rental housing portfolio of substantial scale in London and its surrounding commuter towns. The Fizzy transaction provides us with day one access to eight operational assets and a host of new team members that we are pleased to welcome to Greystar. In addition, we will grow the portfolio through our newly formed partnership with ADIA from the ground up.”

Salem Al Darmaki, Deputy Director of the Real Estate & Infrastructure Department at ADIA, said: “We believe strong long-term fundamentals are driving the demand for purpose-built rental housing in the London area. With the creation of this platform, our objective is to address this specific, growing market opportunity while expanding our relationship with a proven, world class partner in Greystar. This is consistent with our approach of investing in high conviction opportunities, at scale, to capture future growth trends.”

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Greystar Rides the Apartment Wave

About Greystar

Greystar is a leading, fully integrated real estate company offering expertise in investment management, development, and management of rental housing properties globally. Headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, Greystar manages and operates approximately $230 billion of real estate in 215 markets globally including offices throughout North America, Europe, South America, and the Asia-Pacific region. Greystar is the largest operator of apartments in the United States, manages more than 754,000 units/beds, and has a robust institutional investment management platform with approximately $49.9 billion of assets under management, including $22.6 billion of development assets. Greystar was founded by Bob Faith in 1993 with the intent to become a provider of world-class service in the rental residential real estate business. To learn more, visit www.greystar.com.