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Asset management giant expands into social housing sector with acquisition of for-profit owner
An asset manager has acquired the owner of for-profit provider ReSI Housing as part of plans to expand within the social housing sector.
Gresham House, which owns assets worth in excess of £2.5bn, has acquired TradeRisks for an initial amount of £7m, with a further £4m payable dependent on certain performance criteria.
TradeRisks is the parent of ReSI Capital Management, which is the fund manager of Residential Secure Income (ReSI) and an investor in portfolios of shared ownership, retirement and local authority housing.
ReSI manages assets worth £321m, including £72m in shared ownership homes held within ReSI’s wholly owned for-profit housing provider, ReSI Housing.
David Orr, former chief executive of the National Housing Federation, is the current chair of ReSI Housing after being appointed in October 2018. Its chief executive is Mark Rogers, who spent 12 years as the boss of Circle Housing before it merged with Affinity Sutton to become Clarion.
ReSI Housing launched as a for-profit in July 2018 and at the time said that the move would make it easier for housing associations to sell it properties and secure joint ventures with landlords.
Following completion of the acquisition, Alex Pilato, current chief executive of TradeRisks, will assume overall leadership of the newly formed combined housing division at Gresham House.
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It comes as a series of private investors, including Blackstone, Man Group and Legal & General, increase their activity within the social housing sector.
In 2018, Blackstone agreed to fund for-profit provider Sage, while Legal & General owns its own for-profit provider: L&G Affordable Homes.
Tony Dalwood, chief executive of Gresham House, said: “Gresham House is focused on investing in sustainable real assets and the acquisition of TradeRisks and RCM [ReSI Capital Management] is consistent with the group strategy to grow existing platforms.
“The acquisition allows Gresham House to enhance its social and affordable housing offering for clients, an area identified as structurally important to the UK economy, through a capable management team with a strong track record.”
Mr Pilato said: “In Gresham House we have identified a partner that has a strong cultural fit with our business and is equally focused on the opportunity to raise further funds in the housing sector to accelerate the development of much needed new affordable housing.
“This acquisition is a positive move for the shareholders in ReSI plc through continuity of the existing management team, supplemented with the benefits of the Gresham House platform and expertise in areas such as investor relations, distribution, marketing, compliance and risk.”
