According to ECO, the fund led by Filipe Morenés, son of Santander president Ana Botín, and Juan Pepa invested 50 million euros in the acquisition of two university residences in Porto, Big City Asprela and Milestone Porto Asprela.

The purchase was made through ESAF (Evergeen Student Housing Core+), a fund supported by Stoneshield Capital (by Filipe Morenés and Juan Pepa) and financed by institutional investors from UBS Asset Management.

Located next to the Asprela University Campus, the two university residences have a total of 500 beds , with premium rooms and common spaces, meeting the fund's sustainability requirements. They will be managed by Micampus, which already manages the other 46 residences owned by ESAF, spread across 24 cities in Spain and Portugal.

“The Portuguese market has been one of the main ones for Stoneshield and continues to be one of the most attractive investment locations in Europe”, highlighted Felipe Morenés, co-founder of Stoneshield Capital, highlighting that Portugal has one of the highest GDP growth rates in the region and registers a positive evolution in the unemployment rate, among other factors.

“We plan to continue investing and supporting the growth of the companies in our portfolio in the country”, added the same official who co-leads a company that manages around three billion euros of investments ranging from housing to logistics, employing more of 1,000 people in its operations.

Of the total investments, around one billion are allocated to the so-called Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA). “We hope to double in the short term”, pointed out the other co-founder of Stoneshield, Juan Pepa. The objective is to be a leader in the PBSA sector in the Southern European market, where ESAF has more than 9,200 beds and 53 thousand residents.

“It is the most deprived region with a solid and growing university system,” said Pepa.