On March 31, 2017, the University of Sussex and Balfour Beatty reached financial close on a student accommodation project. The Falmer Campus project involved the construction of 2,177 new student bedrooms as well as a new building for the Student’s Union and social facilities. It also involves the long term management, maintenance and operation of the buildings.
The new buildings will replace the existing East Slope site, home to nearly 600 students. The construction of the 29 blocks will be carried out in five subsequent phases and is expected to be completed by 2020.
The financing of the project involved a £200m inflation linked bond, with HSBC as the lead bond arranger and Assured Guarantee as the funder.
On behalf of Balfour Beatty, Operis was pleased to perform the audit of the financial model at financial close, including a full tax and accounting review.
