Arlington Advisors acquire Collegiate AC

Collegiate AC Ltd, one of the UK’s leading providers of contemporary Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA), has been acquired by Arlington Advisors Limited (Arlington).  The combined businesses aim to build on the opportunities presented in terms of leveraging expertise, experience and scale, while extending its combined offer to meet the different needs of students.

Collegiate AC will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Arlington Advisors Limited (Arlington), which represents the shareholders of a portfolio comprising 13,635 beds in the UK. Of these beds over 1,800 beds are currently managed by Collegiate AC with the onboarding of 6,000 Arlington owned beds over 26 properties about to begin. In addition, Collegiate AC will continue to manage more than 1,600 non-Arlington owned beds.

The business will now manage and operate a number of student accommodation brands in the UK, including Collegiate, UNIVERSE.CITY, Prima Vidae and The Neighbourhood, providing a range of accommodation to meet the different needs of students.

Rob Moyle has been appointed as Collegiate AC’s new CEO, having previously been Operations Director at Arlington with responsibility for its student accommodation portfolio.  Rob will have responsibility for maintaining the company’s strategic direction through fostering organic growth and targeted acquisition.

Rob Moyle, CEO, Collegiate AC, comments: “The acquisition by Arlington will further diversify our portfolio and strengthen our position as a leading provider of contemporary purpose-built student accommodation. The sector continues to face challenges, however we have plans in place to further enhance our operational capabilities and deliver an even greater proposition to our customers as we grow.”

Collegiate is a multi-award winning provider of student accommodation.  In 2019, the business was awarded the ‘Operator of the Year’ accolade at the Class of 2020 Awards in Berlin for overseeing over 500 student accommodation projects so far, pioneering many industry practices in terms of design, systems and operations and for the high quality of both the accommodation and services offered by the company.  More than 80% of Collegiate residents rated their accommodation as Good or Very Good for the fourth year in a row.