Bahrain-based Oasis Capital Bank plans to invest £39 million ($63.3 million) in a project to develop three student accommodation facilities in London.

The move is part of a joint venture with UK-based Unite Group to take a 75 per cent stake in the £194 million venture which will provide 1,119 bed spaces. The Unite Group is one of the UK's leading developer and manager of student accommodation.

Law firm Trowers & Hamlins, who advised Oasis through its Bahrain office, says that the deal is thought to be one of the first equity investments in the UK student accommodation market by any Middle East bank.

'The deal was significant because it was a Gulf-based bank which chose to invest equity in the joint venture with the Unite Group rather than just providing debt facilities,' said Trowers & Hamlins partner Julianne Walshe.

'Oasis Capital Bank will be an active investor by pooling its development management expertise with Unite Group to develop the student accommodation facilities.

'Oasis Capital Bank's investment in London student accommodation facilities shows that there is an appetite in the Gulf region amongst experienced investors for lower risk UK-based 'education solutions' type investments which are sensibly structured.

'The higher education and student accommodation sector has many counter cyclical attributes as global financial markets flatten.

'This deal demonstrates an investment into an alternative accommodation sector which has been carefully structured and implemented by an overseas investor which understands the dynamics of the London student accommodation market,' she added.-TradeArabia News Service