The deal increases Lend Lease’s infrastructure funds under management to £137m.

Lend Lease entered into a PFI project with the University of Sheffield in 2006 to provide student accommodation.

In the following three years, four phases comprising a total of 4,000 beds were delivered through a combination of new build and refurbishment.

The sale of Lend Lease’s 50% equity share in the PFI is the latest stage in its strategy of recycling capital from successful projects using the fund to invest in social infrastructure assets over a five-year investment period with Dutch pension fund, PGGM.

Tony Brown, Managing Director of Lend Lease’s Investment Management business, said: “This is the fund’s eighteenth investment and grows our invested equity from assets in the Lend Lease pipeline to £137m, which is well ahead of our original investment profile.

“Our aim is to recycle capital in order to unlock new investment opportunities. This is a high quality PFI asset which fits perfectly within the fund’s investment strategy.”

Barry Millsom, Lend Lease Infrastructure Fund Manager, added: “I am pleased that we have once again been able to demonstrate the benefits that Lend Lease provides as an investment manager. This will further strengthen our growing relationship with PGGM.”

The Sheffield University PFI asset is the second major purchase which the fund has made from Lend Lease this year.

In February, the fund bought Lend Lease’s equity in the South Tyne and Wear waste PFI.