The deal, for an undisclosed amount, marks US-headquartered Greystar’s first move into the Spanish housing market, adding to its 40,000-strong European student bed portfolio across the UK, Germany, the Netherlands.

Resa owns 9,309 student beds across 19 different Spanish cities, including Madrid, Salamanca and Valencia.

“The universities are of good quality with more and more English courses and still relatively affordable”

Investment firms AXA IM – Real Assets and CBRE GIP have acquired the majority of Resa’s assets, with Greystar acquiring the remaining portfolio and acting as the property, development and asset manager.

Resa will continue to operate under the same name, under Greystar management.

Steven Zeeman, managing director, investment management – Netherlands, at Greystar said that Resa has “considerable growth potential”.

“Spain is presently one of Europe’s fastest growing economies with a serious shortage of purpose-built rental accommodation suitable for students and young professionals in the larger cities,” he said.

Laurent Lavergne, head of separate accounts at AXA IM, said that the Spanish student accommodation market is both “highly fragmented and undersupplied”.

“[This] therefore presents us with an opportunity to grow our portfolio by investing further in our Resa joint venture,” he said.

Resa owns 37 accommodation residences, four of which are under development.

Zeeman pointed out the growth in the number of foreign students is one of the biggest trends in the student accommodation landscape at the moment.

“Spanish cities are very popular destinations for this target group,” he said. “The universities are of good quality with more and more English courses and still relatively affordable.”