Warburg Pincus-Affiliate Acquires HDFC's 24.48% Stake In Good Host Spaces Existing shareholder Goldman Sachs and Baskin Lake will support the future growth of Good Host by investing additional capital to fund the company's growth objectives

Owner and operator of purpose-built, on-campus student housing assets Good Host Spaces Pvt. Ltd announced that Baskin Lake Investment Ltd, an affiliate of private equity firm Warburg Pincus, has become a significant shareholder in the company through the acquisition of HDFC Ltd.'s 24.48 per cent stake along with a primary investment in the company.

Existing shareholders Goldman Sachs and Baskin Lake will support the future growth of Good Host by investing additional capital to fund the company's growth objectives.

"We are delighted to welcome Warburg Pincus as a new investor in the company. We look forward to working closely with them and leveraging their global experience in creating market-leading real estate platforms. Good Host is confident that with Goldman Sachs and Warburg Pincus as our shareholders, our company will further strengthen its leadership position in this space and bring many more partner universities and students into our platform by providing contemporary student housing to live, learn and grow in a safe and secure environment," said Nimesh Grover, chief executive officer, Good Host.

Since its establishment in September 2017 as India's first on-campus student housing platform, Good Host has grown rapidly to become India's largest owner and operator of student accommodation assets, operating approximately 18,000 beds at highly ranked universities, such as Manipal University, O.P. Jindal Global University, and Shoolini University. The company is also in conversations with several other prestigious institutes in India to expand its portfolio to 50,000 beds in the near term.

"Good Host has had a remarkable journey since inception, from introducing the business model of operating student accommodation in partnership with universities in India to scaling this platform to become the country's largest student accommodation provider. This partnership delivers critical growth capital to universities helping them augment their educational capabilities while modernizing and introducing global best practices to the student housing assets. We look forward to partnering with Goldman Sachs, Nimesh, and the rest of the team in their next phase of growth," shared Anish Saraf, managing director, Warburg Pincus India.

The higher education landscape in India has evolved significantly in the last few years with the establishment of several new high-quality private universities. The new National Education Policy will further improve the global competitiveness of Indian universities, which in turn will require high-quality, professionally-managed student housing facilities. This natural evolution will result in significant growth of this asset class as seen in other developed countries.

"Our founding investment was built upon the clear, immense gap between the demand and supply for good, quality on-campus student accommodation, which we have experience in funding and developing globally. Warburg Pincus' addition to this partnership further validates the long-term thematic basis of our vision and Good Hosts' value proposition in catering to the fundamental housing needs of today's modern students," added Som Krishna, managing director, Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

Goldman Sachs' investment banking division advised Good Host.