Simmons & Simmons is advising JP Morgan Cazenove, Numis Securities and Jefferies on a £100m firm placing and placing and open offer by The UNITE Group plc, the UK's leading developer and manager of student accommodation. Half of the net proceeds of the firm Placing and Placing and Open Offer will be used to fund an acceleration of the group's highly targeted regional development programme in select key university towns and cities, taking advantage of cyclically low development costs. Half of the net proceeds of the firm Placing and Placing and Open Offer will be used to acquire new units in The UNITE Student Accommodation Fund (USAF), increasing UNITE's stake from 16% to 22%.

The Simmons & Simmons team comprises Corporate partner Chris Horton, Capital Markets partner Charles Hawes, Corporate supervising associate Alice Steward, Bristol Real Estate partner Iain Macfarlane, Bristol Real Estate associate Caroline Turner-Inskip, London Real Estate associate Alice Bell, Tax partner Nick Cronkshaw and Tax associate Chris Agnoli.