CPP Investments Commits €460 Million to Support Nido Living's European Expansion

CPP Investments recently committed €460 million to Nido Living supporting its expansion within Europe through the acquisition of Livensa Living:

London, UK (June 19, 2025) – Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) today announced it has committed up to €460 million (C$720 million) to support the continued growth of Nido Living’s (Nido) integrated purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) platform in Continental Europe. The commitment will support Nido in its acquisition of Livensa Living (Livensa), a well-known student housing platform operating across Iberia, from a private real estate fund managed by Brookfield Asset Management.

CPP Investments acquired Nido Living in April 2024. Upon completion of the Livensa acquisition, Nido will become one of the largest student housing operators in Europe with approximately 13,000 beds. This furthers Nido’s ambition to grow to 25,000 beds across Iberia, Italy and Germany by 2031.

“This is a significant strategic acquisition for Nido and demonstrates CPP Investments’ ongoing commitment to European PBSA – a sector that provides strong risk-adjusted returns for the CPP Fund. Livensa is a high quality PBSA platform and the acquisition complements Nido’s position in Iberia, a growing market with attractive outlook,” said Thomas Jackson, Head of Real Estate Europe at CPP Investments.

The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2025 subject to customary closing conditions.

About Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments™) is a professional investment management organization that manages the Canada Pension Plan Fund in the best interests of the more than 22 million contributors and beneficiaries. In order to build diversified portfolios of assets, we make investments around the world in public equities, private equities, real estate, infrastructure and fixed income. Headquartered in Toronto, with offices in Hong Kong, London, Mumbai, New York City, San Francisco, São Paulo and Sydney, CPP Investments is governed and managed independently of the Canada Pension Plan and at arm’s length from governments. At March 31, 2025, the Fund totalled $714.4 billion. For more information, please visit www.cppinvestments.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram or on X @CPPInvestments. 

Nido Living’s (Nido) integrated purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) platform in Continental Europe is one of the best and with this financing, it will help the company grow its operations through the acquisition of  Livensa Living (Livensa) to cement its top spot in Europe.

Purpose-built student accommodation is a great investment in the US, UK and Europe where students look for the best accommodations during their university years.

It falls under "niche real estate" like life sciences, storage and data centers but it's a lot less cyclical and offers excellent risk-adjusted returns. 

The commitment of C$720 million is nothing to sneeze at but the quality of the asset is worth it and the timing is also worth noting as the world economy slows.

The press release states Livensa Living (Livensa) is a well-known student housing platform operating across Iberia, from a private real estate fund managed by Brookfield Asset Management. 

Just that tells me it's an excellent asset to acquire.

Nothing more to add except I really wish CPP Investments and all of Canada's large pension funds broke down their real estate allocation in more granular detail. 

CPP Investments does provide geographic and sector diversification in its Annual Report 2025 but there's no granular data on niche strategies (just 14% in "Other Real Estate"):

Unfortunately none of the Maple Eight funds provide granular data that I'm looking for, I have to deduce it by looking at how much they committed over the years in particular strategies.

Alright, just wanted to mention this big deal as I like it and think it's a great addition to CPP Investments' Real Assets portfolio.

Below, Abode Worldwide is joined by Suraiya Comunello, CMO at Nido Living, for a deep dive into what truly matters to today’s students—and how operators can meet those expectations through service, design, and wellbeing. 

Ms. Comunello is very bright and her experience shows. She mentions the acquisition of Livensa Living and how CPP Investments has transformed them into a major European PBSA platform. 

Take the time to listen to the entire discussion.