Unite Regulatory News (UTG)

THE UNITE GROUP PLC (the "Company")

15 May 2018

RESULTS OF SCRIP DIVIDEND ELECTION - 2017 FINAL DIVIDEND

Scrip Scheme elections were received in respect of 17,594,426 shares representing a take up of approximately 6.7% of the Company's share capital. This will result in the issue of 272,709 new ordinary shares (approximately 0.10% of the current issued share capital). These shares will be issued at a price of 805.60 pence each and will rank pari passu in all respects with the Company's existing issued ordinary shares.

Applications will be made to the UK Financial Conduct Authority for these shares to be admitted to the Premium Segment of the Official List and to the London Stock Exchange for these shares to be admitted to trading on the Main Market for listed securities. It is expected that admission will occur on 18 May 2018.

Following the issue of these shares, the total number of shares in issue and voting rights in the Company will be 263,391,381 with effect from 18 May 2018. This may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the UK Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

Share certificates will be posted to certificated shareholders who elected for scrip dividend shares and shareholders holding shares in CREST, who elected for scrip dividend shares, will have their CREST accounts credited directly on 18 May 2018.

Details of the scrip scheme can be found on the Company's website at http://www.unite-group.co.uk/investors.

-ENDS-

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Notes to editors:

About Unite Students

Unite Students is the UK's largest manager and developer of purpose-built student accommodation serving the country's world-leading higher education sector. We currently provide homes for almost 50,000 students in more than 140 properties across 24 leading university towns and cities in England and Scotland. Unite also has a strong development pipeline, which will deliver a further 8,000 beds in the next three years. 

Our 1,400 people are driven by a common purpose: to provide the students who live with us a 'Home for Success' and to be the most trusted brand in the sector. We do this through great service, great people and great properties, all designed on the basis of an unrivalled insight into students' needs and preferences.

Unite's accommodation is high quality, safe and secure, and located close to university campuses, transport links and local amenities. Students live predominantly in en-suite study bedrooms with rents covering all bills, insurance, 24-hour security, fortnightly cleaning services and high-speed Wi-Fi. MyUnite, our mobile app, provides practical support such as instant messaging and maintenance requests.

Our commitment to customer service is powered by an innovative, in-house operating platform. It provides a wide range of benefits to our students, such as an optimised online booking process, as well as providing us with a unique ability to drive value from our portfolio through scale efficiencies and revenue management.

Alongside delivering great service, our other strategic priority is delivering growing and sustainable earnings, underpinned by a strong capital structure. A key part of this strategy is growing the number of beds let though partnerships with mid and high tariff universities which are experiencing record levels of student demand. We currently partner with 60 higher education institutions, guaranteeing that approximately 60% of our rooms are let under multi-year, 'nomination agreements' providing high visibility of forward occupancy and rental growth.

Unite is invested in and operates two specialist funds and joint ventures with institutional investment partners: the £2 billion Unite UK Student Accommodation Fund (USAF), and the £1 billion London Student Accommodation Vehicle (LSAV).

Unite is the founder of and major donor to the Unite Foundation, a charitable trust established to support talented students facing challenging financial circumstances through the provision of free accommodation annual scholarships. The Foundation has so far provided scholarships for 250 young people working in close collaboration with 28 universities.

Founded in 1991 in Bristol, Unite Group is an award-winning Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), listed on the London Stock Exchange and a member of the FTSE 250 Index.

For more information, please visit Unite's corporate website www.unite-group.co.uk, the student site www.unite-students.com or the Unite Foundation www.unitefoundation.co.uk.