The Alignvest / Forum student housing merger, Reza Satchu's latest deal

In 2018, Reza Satchu and his close partner at Alignvest, Sanjil Shah, launched a bold plan to consolidate the purpose-built student housing sector in Canada. From a standing start, the team built what is today the largest student housing platform in the country (~10,500 beds). Reza's initial vehicle, a private REIT under the Alignvest brand, found an exit in 2024. While Reza will emphasize this as a $1.69B score, it was a paper deal. Meaning that only time will tell the ultimate fate of the investors. I have analyzed the deal terms, have had some exchanges with the parties and ultimately keep an open mind. Here's a bit of the story behind the deal.