Octopus Real Estate has acquired eight care homes from LNT Care Developments in a deal worth around £100m.
Octopus Healthcare Fund, managed by Octopus Real Estate, has committed to five of the care homes at practical completion and will forward-fund construction of the remaining three homes over their 12-month build periods.
The eight new care homes are located in Wombourne, Nottingham, Wakefield, Cannock, Kidderminster, Swadlincote, Redditch and Salisbury, and will all provide full en-suite wetrooms.
Once complete, seven care homes will be let to Ideal Carehomes and one to Elmfield Care, each on a 35-year lease.
Ideal Carehomes is an existing Octopus Real Estate tenant, while Elmfield is a new ‘LNT care partnership’ operator formed by LNT with Elmfield’s Directors.
The deal is one of the biggest portfolio purchases to date for the Octopus Healthcare Fund.
“The sector still requires significant further investment given the UK’s ageing population, and we continue in our work to bridge that gap,” said Octopus Real Estate director of originations Chris Wishart.
“Extending our relationship with both parties, in addition to Elmfield Care, is a key step in executing our strategy of funding modern care homes with robust fundamentals,” he added.
Knight Frank acted as selling agent for LNT Care Developments.
"We are seeing an increased flight to quality from operators and investors within the elderly care sector, particularly as the pandemic has highlighted the undersupply of future-proofed assets and the need for further development within the sector,” said Knight Frank healthcare agency and development associate Nick Kempster.
