A company headed by James Caan, the UK-based entrepreneur and former television star, has brokered a £40m ($62m) deal to sell Bradford University’s student village to a Middle East investor.
The former star of the BBC’s ‘Dragon’s Den’ TV series two years ago joined up with 90 North Real Estate Partners and the Bradford sale is the latest to be brokered by the London-based independent real estate firm.
The student village, known as The Green, contains more than 1,000 bedrooms and was bought by a Middle Eastern investor represented by Dubai-based Arzan Wealth, according to the Bradford and Telegraph and Argus newspaper.
The campus was developed in 2011 by a consortium including Welbeck Land Limited and Hayaat Group.
“With particular strength in healthcare, life sciences, management, engineering and international development, University of Bradford has an enviable reputation for graduate employment and amongst foreign students who contribute so much to the UK economy and its export earnings,” Caan was quoted as saying.
“The Green being brand new, is one of the best student housing campuses in the UK, certainly the ‘greenest’. In an increasingly competitive educational environment, the University can proudly offer its students award winning accommodation at a reasonable cost,” added Nicholas Judd, founder partner of 90 North.
In 2011, Caan set up a Sharia-compliant fund intent on buying up property assets in the UK went on a tour of the Gulf to drum up investment.
“When you think today that half the world’s population today is Muslim, as a businessman I see this as one of the biggest growth market opportunities that is under-exploited,” Caan told Arabian Business at the time.
“Potentially over the next five or ten years I can see this as being a very attractive position. I think there is an incredible increase in demand for Sharia-compliant opportunities and products.”
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