Potential sale of Wee Hur's Aussie student housing fuels stock rally

It owns 50.1% of portfolio that has more than 5,500 beds across seven properties

- Ven Sreenivasan

Wee Hur Holdings' shares have been rallying over the past week on speculation over the possible sale of its purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) business in Australia.

The rally was triggered by an Oct 15 Australian Financial Review (AFR) report that US multifamily fund Greystar was acquiring GIC's PBSA business for A$1.6 billion (S$1.4 billion).

The article in the daily claimed that Wee Hur, which sold GIC a 49.9 per cent stake in the same PBSA business in April 2022, is expected to retain a stake as GIC transfers ownership of its holding to Greystar.

Wee Hur, run by executive chairman Goh Yew Lian and his son and chief investment officer Goh Wee Ping, issued a clarification on Oct 17 to say that no material transactions had occurred involving those assets.

But the company disclosed it is currently engaged in "early-stage confidential discussions with a third party", which “may or may not lead to a transaction". The group said there "is no certainty whatsoever that these discussions will result in any definitive agreement or transaction materialising”.