Blackstone and Brookfield join £4bn hunt for UK student housing group IQ
Blackstone and Brookfield are among five potential bidders circling IQ, a UK student accommodation company, in a deal that may be worth more than £4bn, people briefed on the matter said.
The interest in London-based IQ comes as its owners at Goldman Sachs and Wellcome Trust, the medical research charity, are preparing an initial public offering of the business for which they joined forces to grow in early 2016.
Others who are also considering offers for IQ are Greystar, the US property company, Mapletree, the Singapore-based real estate investor, and Patrizia, the German real estate firm, these people said. A deadline for initial bids comes before Christmas, and people close to the sale process expected offers to exceed £4bn …