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This is Nordiqus – CEO Jenny Rehn’s own words on the journey so far

With more than 600 educational properties across Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark, Nordiqus is the largest owner and manager of educational properties in the Nordics. Strong local presence, solid knowledge and good relationships have been the recipe for success for this journey. Listen to CEO Jenny Rehn’s own words about the journey so far – and the next steps.

“We are both proud of and humbled by the position we hold. With the launch of Nordiqus, we are clarifying our offer and our role. But in practice, our mission remains unchanged – to offer educational properties of the highest quality, for the generations of today and tomorrow.”

Jenny Rehn, CEO of Nordiqus

Can you briefly describe Nordiqus?

Nordiqus’ journey actually began in 2020, as SBB’s business segment within educational properties. Step by step, the educational portfolio grew, both in terms of number of schools and geographically, to eventually become the leader in the Nordics. In 2022, Brookfield – a global alternative asset manager based in Canada – became a co-owner, and earlier this year they became the main owner. In total, we have about 600 educational properties – preschools, primary schools, secondary schools, and universities – in Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark.

Our mission is to be a driving force within social infrastructure. Municipalities should see us as the obvious partner for the expansion and renovation of educational properties. I also want to emphasize that the formation of Nordiqus as an independent company does not mean any change for either the schools or the municipalities. Operations will continue as usual, but we now have an independent management team within the educational properties area, with its own mandate for both projects and improvements.

Who is Jenny Rehn and the team behind Nordiqus?

Real estate has been the common thread throughout my professional career. Shortly after the real estate crisis, in the mid-90s, I started working in the industry. And I have stayed ever since. I have worked in both private and municipal environments, and have held a number of senior positions, with business development and asset management as the main areas. Just over a year ago, I stepped into my current role. Earlier this year, Samuel Spetz joined as CFO and in connection with the launch of Nordiqus, we have also been able to welcome Mattias Monbäck, Celin Backen Roppen, and Malin Hein Dymling. If I may say so myself, we have managed to put together a real dream team. The knowledge, experience, and commitment that this group possesses is very strong. Together with Brookfield and SBB, we have a solid organization that will continue to manage and develop educational properties of the highest quality, for the generations of today and tomorrow.

How do educational properties differ from other real estate?

“Real estate” or “the real estate market” consists of several different types of properties, with different characteristics, needs, and risk profiles. Education is a mainstay of our society. Year after year, new cohorts of pre-school children up to university students begin their schooling. This makes educational properties a long-term, secure, and stable sector. Market fluctuations, unlike commercial real estate, for example, are smaller and slower. The contracts with the tenants (municipalities and private actors) are very long, in our case almost 13 years on average, and inflation-proofed. This creates safe environment for us as a company as well as for our tenants. It is an important premise in our relationship that enables us to jointly implement long-term investments to meet the needs of today and tomorrow.

What role does Nordiqus play in this?

Our task as a leading player in the Nordic region is to set the highest possible standards for how we conduct our work. Changing demographics and urbanization – both in the Nordics and in Europe as a whole – are driving the need for high quality educational properties, developed within shorter time frames at reasonable costs. In many cases, municipalities are not able to develop properties they need or handle the property maintenance themselves. Having us as a partner enables us to move quickly from sketch to completion. Take the establishment of a new district as an example. The municipality needs to run several parallel processes – roads and communications, shops and parking lots, housing and schools, and many other things need to fall into place at the same time. This is an example of the role that Nordiqus plays. Similarly, conversions and extensions are an important aspect, where, for example, a school’s existing premises are not sufficient with respect to the number of pupils.

Nordiqus is now taking its first step as an independent company. What does this imply for the future?

The daily operations and contacts remain intact. SBB will continue to manage the entire educational portfolio through an asset management agreement. This ensures continuity and stability for all our tenants. At the same time, Brookfield will be able to continue to contribute with both expertise and financing to continue to develop both Nordiqus and the existing portfolio of schools. One area that we focus a lot on is energy efficiency, which we wish to further strengthen.

My assessment is that Nordiqus is still at the beginning of its journey. The Nordic region has a large existing portfolio of educational properties that need to be renovated and adapted to new needs. At the same time, we see cities that are growing, with new districts, which will need a long-term partner to lean on to develop new schools and university premises.