The Carlyle Group is homing in on niche real estate markets, including budget hotels and student housing, its managing director, Eric Sasson, said at Expo Real.

'We've been identifying niche markets, such as student housing and budget hotels. Student housing is very undersupplied. We have already developed 4,000 student beds in the UK and in the Benelux countries and would now like to accelerate this,’ Sasson said. Subsequently, the Carlyle Group would like to invest an additional EUR 300 mln in the sector over the next year, he added.

The global alternative asset manager is also keen to beef up its exposure to Europe’s budget hotel sector, Sasson told PropertyEU. ‘We have approved 31 new hotels in the past year and would like to have as many as we can. We want to grow the segment.’

In September 2010, the Carlyle Group acquired the B&B Hotel Group, which operates a chain of 223 budget hotels across France, Germany and Italy, from European investment firm Eurozeo for EUR 480mln.

And the expansion doesn’t stop there. Sasson said his firm is also exploring the possibility of expanding into the five-star hotel segment. ‘We are currently examining two possibilities in France,’ he said. He declined to give further details but said that an update should be available before the year-end.

Sasson is upbeat about the future of the European real estate industry, despite its uncertain outlook. ‘I actually think we’ll see more opportunities in 2012/2013, especially with regard to state sell-offs. That’s a big potential source of deals, especially in countries such as Italy. If the assets come with long-term leases and aren’t vacant, that’s even better.’