Gatehouse Financial Group completes sale of specialist UK Build to Rent investment platform to Apollo Funds

• Gatehouse Financial Group, the parent company of Gatehouse Bank and Gatehouse Living Group (GLG), was an early entrant in the UK’s Build to Rent market.
• GLG manages over 10,000 homes nationwide, has created five platforms and successfully exited three, with the sale of its first fund representing the first single-family home portfolio sale of scale in the UK.
• The sale of GLG will support Gatehouse Bank’s long-term strategy for retail growth.

Gatehouse Financial Group today announced the sale of its subsidiary Gatehouse Living Group ("GLG”), a vertically integrated UK residential investment and management platform to high-growth, global alternative asset manager, Apollo. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Gatehouse Living Group is comprised of its investment arm, Gatehouse Investment Management , as well as its property management arm, Ascend Properties (“Ascend”). Together, the Group provides institutional investors with a comprehensive suite of operational services to originate and manage new build-to-rent single family housing.

Since the closure of its first fund in 2014, managed on behalf of the Kuwait Investment Authority, Gatehouse has established itself as a leader in the UK market. In total, GLG has established five single-family residential portfolios and successfully exited three, acquiring more than 5,000 single-family homes from the UK’s largest housebuilders. The portfolios have been created through joint ventures with leading institutional investors, including Carlyle Group, TPG Real Estate Partners and Greykite. Through Ascend, the Group manages more than 10,000 homes nationwide for both itself and third-party clients, nearly 4,000 of which are operated under the resident-facing white-label Ascend Living brand.

Fahed Boodai, Chairman of Gatehouse Financial Group, who was instrumental in developing the UK Build to Rent sector said: "I’m incredibly proud of the critical role Gatehouse has played in establishing and growing the UK institutional rental housing market, creating a holistic platform that strategically supports the sector and accelerates the delivery of much-needed, high-quality housing. The transaction with Apollo is a testament to Gatehouse’s pioneering position in the market, the strength of the platform and track record we built over the last ten years.”

Edward Jones, Partner at Apollo commented: “Gatehouse Living Group, under Gatehouse Bank’s stewardship, has established itself as a vertically integrated leader in the UK housing sector, supporting the supply of high-quality, professionally managed rental homes. We look forward to working closely with management to further enhance and expand its operational capabilities and to supporting the platform’s continued success as the UK focuses on bolstering homebuilding across tenures and attracting more investment to the sector.”

The sale of GLG will support Gatehouse Bank, a subsidiary of Gatehouse Financial Group, which has a long-term strategy of retail growth, specifically enabling further development of the Bank’s home finance product offering, which has seen strong demand from UK resident, UK expat and international homebuyers and landlords.