UK: US asset manager Brookfield is reported to be in exclusive talks to buy SACO from Oaktree Capital Management for £430 million.
SACO‘s portfolio includes 39 properties across the UK (nine leasehold assets under the Locke brand and 30 leasehold properties operated under the SACO brand).
The deal also includes more than 900 freehold rooms in SACO’s development pipeline, which includes locations in Dublin and Amsterdam, as well as SACO’s online platform.
The acquisition will be Brookfield’s first in the serviced apartment sector and the largest serviced apartment investment deal in the UK to date. Mapletree and Invesco are also reported to have been interested in acquiring SACO, but Brookfield has emerged as a clear favourite.
The sale forms part of Oaktree’s wider strategy to cash in on some of its UK investments that it made between 2012 and 2013 in order to return cash to maturing funds. Oaktree first entered the serviced apartment sector when it backed Central London Serviced Apartments to buy sites in the capital, a business which it merged with SACO when it bought the platform in 2015.
Eastdil Secured is advising Oaktree; JLL and KPMG are acting for Brookfield.</p
