GSA Snaps Up Campus Estates For $21 Million In First Australian Acquisition

Press release - Sydney, Hong Kong, - Wednesday, 2nd March 2016

Pelham Street, Australia

Leading student accommodation provider GSA has made its first acquisition since re-entering the Australian market, agreeing terms to pay $21 million for Campus Estates, as it begins moving towards a target of 25,000 student beds.

The deal, announced today, includes the acquisition of a prime 350-bed student accommodation development in Carlton, Melbourne and other pipeline projects on completion.

As part of the deal, Campus Estates founder Jon Whittle will join GSA as Head of Real Estate for Australia, with primary focus on leading the pipeline acquisition and overall strategic direction of the real estate business. Jon has nearly 20 years of sector experience and has been developing student accommodation in Australia for over 5 years.

GSA also announced today that it had bolstered its management team in Australia with the appointment of Craig Oliver, who joins as Commercial Director. Craig has more than 10 years of experience in operations in the Higher Education sector and joins GSA from Macquarie University where he was CEO of the University’s commercial and student life entity. Craig will be responsible for university relations, property operations, branding, sales and marketing.

Simon Loveridge, Managing Director, GSA Group Asia Pacific commented: “We are delighted with the acquisition as it will fast-track our re-emergence into the student market and Jon and Craig’s experience will be invaluable in helping us grow the business across Australia and New Zealand.”

Jon Whittle said: “I am excited to be part of a company that is focused on being the

leading provider of student accommodation in the region. GSA represents the pinnacle of student hospitality across the world and to be leading the real estate business represents an enormous opportunity, focusing on driving new pipeline across the Australian market. I am really excited.”

Craig Oliver said: “I am excited by the opportunity to be a part of an organisation with a true vision to be a global leader in student accommodation and to make a difference to students’ lives. We have the opportunity to deliver a level of student accommodation above and beyond anything that currently exists within the Australian market. I am excited to align my experience in Australia with GSA’s global track record.”

Ends

For media enquiries please contact:

Grant Titmus at Red Agency on grant.titmus@redagency.com.au or (03) 9670 8350.

About GSA Group

GSA is not simply in the student accommodation sector, GSA created it. For GSA, accommodation is not simply about a physical place to live, but rather about a better way to live. GSA Group is the first truly global leader in student accommodation. GSA provides communities where students live, in the best real estate and university markets. The GSA management team, lead by its founder Nicholas Porter, pioneered the purpose built student accommodation industry for nearly 25 years, creating industry standards such as end-user research, university guarantees and partnerships, standard operating processes, space saving room layouts, online bookings, student integration and customer service levels. Porter founded London and Australia’s Urbanest student accommodation brand and previously The UNITE Group plc which he grew to become a FTSE 250 company. The UK asset class attracts global investment and is now estimated to be worth over $30 billion. Counter to recessionary pressures, the global student accommodation market is in growth and there are also many other rapidly expanding markets, each underpinned by government policies to increase participation in higher education. Having created 60,000 study bedrooms across 44 markets in 8 countries worth over $US7.5 billion, GSA is inspired by the business model of the global hotel industry to expand and improve the scale, reach and service levels associated with student accommodation. GSA has expanded from Europe and the Middle East into Asia and has operations in Sydney, Tokyo, London, Dubai, Hong Kong and Beijing.

Extended biographies - Jon Whittle

Jon Whittle is a qualified Chartered Surveyor with in excess of 27 years property experience having worked in the student accommodation sector since 1998 joining The Unite Group plc founded by Nicholas Porter. At Unite, Jon was the UK Development Director responsible for driving the acquisition and development functions throughout the UK during the period when Unite expanded to in excess of 40,000 beds. More recently, Jon spearheaded Urbanest’s

acquisition and delivery of over 4,000 beds in the Australian market during a 3 year period from 2011 to 2014 across Sydney and Melbourne to add to existing assets in Brisbane and Adelaide. Now acting as Head of Real Estate for GSA in Australia and New Zealand, Jon will be responsible for securing both development and investment opportunities and driving GSA’s target to have 25,000 beds by 2025.

Craig Oliver

Craig has nearly 15 years of higher education and operational experience in Australia joining GSA from his previous role as Director of Campus Life at Macquarie University and CEO U@MQ Ltd (A subsidiary of Macquarie University). In this role Craig led a large team in the delivery of non-academic services including Accommodation, Student Engagement, Orientation, Events, Food and Beverage Services, Functions and Catering, Childcare and Sport and Recreation servicing over 40,000 students and staff. Craig is a graduate from the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has formal qualifications from University of Technology, University of New England and the London Business School.