$1.2 billion on Japanese student accommodation raised an eyebrow but clearly the PE people know a lot more about this than me. I think that what were seeing here is a way to buy up prime Japan real estate at extremely attractive bank loan rates and access to data – managing over 100,000 units and therefore plenty of user data
From a student recruitment point of view though it also highlights:-
- Universities closing in rural areas and consolidation in student populations in the large urban areas.
- The largest student population in Japan in a long time. Fuelled by a falling demographic more willing to study at university.
- Government policies enticing overseas students to choose Japan as their study destination.
If Private Equity is getting into Japanese student accommodation it tells me there is something to investigate here for Western education providers.