Hedge fund Qube Research & Technologies has boosted its stake in student accommodation provider Unite Group to over 1%, a regulatory filing showed Friday, amid the company's ongoing takeover of rival Empiric Student Property.
The firm's interest reached 1.02% as of Nov. 13, held through cash-settled derivatives, marking a significant increase from its 0.10% position in early October.
The stake-building comes as Unite's acquisition of Empiric faces a Phase 1 investigation by the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority.
Other hedge funds have also been active, with Balyasny Asset Management disclosing a 1.07% stake in Unite earlier this week.
The increased investor activity follows a recent update where Unite noted that its takeover target, Empiric, had seen a drop in occupancy for the current academic year, a challenge Unite said it had factored into its offer.
Unite has said it expects the acquisition to become effective by the second quarter of 2026.
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