Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Advised Unite Group On Its Recommended £723 Million Offer For Empiric
Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer advised Unite Group on its recommended £723 million offer for Empiric
The global law firm Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer has advised The Unite Group plc (Unite), one of the UK's largest purpose-built student accommodation providers, on its recommended cash and share offer for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Empiric Student Property plc (Empiric).
Unite announced a firm intention to make an offer for Empiric in accordance with Rule 2.7 of the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers on 14 August 2025 (the Offer).
Under the terms of the Offer, Empiric shareholders will be entitled to receive 0.085 Unite shares and 32 pence in cash for each Empiric share they hold. Based on Unite's closing share price as at the last undisturbed trading date, the Offer values Empiric at £723 million, making it one of the most significant real estate deals of 2025.
The proposed acquisition of Empiric's high quality, complementary portfolio provides Unite with greater scale and enhanced growth opportunities aligned to the UK’s strongest universities. The transaction would result in a £10.5 billion combined portfolio (Unite share: £7.4 billion) in the UK's strongest universities, with approximately 75,000 beds on a combined basis.
Alex Kay (Partner) said, "It's been a pleasure to support Unite on this major transaction, following our work advising Unite on the acquisition of Liberty Living Group plc from Canada Pension Plan Investment Board in 2019 and a series of placings in subsequent years to fund their developments and acquisitions. This transaction continues to cement our leading position in the listed real estate sector and on the most significant real estate deals."
The Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer team was led by Corporate Alex Kay (Partner), Charles Steward (Partner), and Jennifer Xue (Senior Associate). The wider team included André Pretorius (Partner), and Max Kaufman (Senior Associate), and Simon Elliott (Partner), and Adam Hooton (Senior Associate), and Mark Ife (Partner), Nick Wright (Partner), and Christopher White (Senior Associate), and William Arrenberg (Partner), and Graham Crocker (Senior Associate).
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