International fund manager Cordea Savills has completed the sale of two assets in the UK on behalf of its Student Hall Fund as it focuses on the development of a new project in Edinburgh.

The fund manager sold two student hall properties in Birmingham and Bangor for about £28 mln (EUR 31 mln) to Knightsbridge Student Housing, a new student accommodation investment company backed by UK-based Oaktree Capital Management. At the same time Cordea Savills purchased the buildings and site of a redundant brewery in Sugar House Close, Edinburgh for an initial payment of £8.25 mln.

Cordea Savills said the transactions are in line with the fund's stated strategy of investing in a UK capital city.

The brewery site will be redeveloped in conjunction with home builder Watkin Jones for £13.5 mln to create a mixed use development comprising fully managed student accommodation. Cordea Savills expects the asset will deliver a net yield of 6.5% from August 2012.

The Student Hall Fund is a closed-ended Jersey property unit trust. The fund, which has an annualised target return of 10% over the life of the fund, was launched in 2006.

Cordea Savills is an international property fund manager with offices in London, Milan, Munich, Stockholm, Luxembourg, Paris and Singapore. The company managed EUR 3.3 bn of assets at end-March 2011.