Macquarie AM doubles down on European PBSA with the acquisition of two Europe student housing operators

Macquarie Asset Management has agreed to acquire and combine two specialist student housing platforms in a strategic bet on Europe’s purpose-built student accommodation sector. The merger of BaseStack Living and Milestone will create a vertically integrated PBSA platform managing more than 12,000 beds across Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Poland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Denmark.

While financial terms were not disclosed, BaseStack owner Justin Hamer is expected to remain as a shareholder alongside Macquarie Asset Management and serve as CEO of the combined platform. The acquisition comes at a time when student housing has overtaken multifamily housing as the top target for investors in European operational real estate, according to recent market research.

Savills polling of investors with nearly €720 billion in European real estate assets under management found that PBSA was a top priority among 62% of respondents, roughly maintaining its position from the previous year, while multifamily had declined from 84% in 2024 to 57% in the recent survey. This shift reflects growing institutional confidence in the student accommodation sector’s resilience and growth potential.

“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,” said Brendan Jones, head of real estate in EMEA at Macquarie Asset Management. “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.”

Industry veteran Hamer brings significant experience to the combined platform, having co-founded Basecamp Student with locations across Germany, Poland, Denmark, and Sweden. That platform was ultimately sold to Belgium’s Xior Student Housing in 2022 as part of a deal valued at €1 billion. The European PBSA market remains in its early stages, according to Hamer, with strong growth drivers and increased institutional investor participation supporting expansion opportunities.

“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,” Hamer said. “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.”

The acquisition reflects Macquarie Asset Management’s broader real estate strategy of investing in and partnering with specialist operators to create opportunities in difficult-to-access sectors. The Sydney-based firm recently backed Asia-focused developer Unified Industrial, which announced plans to acquire Boustead Singapore’s property and fund management business to create a $3.5 billion platform across Japan, China, Singapore, and Vietnam, demonstrating the firm’s commitment to specialist real estate investment platforms globally.

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