A new Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) is being launched by Nexus Healthcare in the United Kingdom to acquire property occupied by elderly and specialist care providers reports the Financial Times.
Run by entrepreneur Harry Hyman, the company already manages Primary Health Properties, but plans to launch the new company with a five year plan to build a £1bn portfolio after securing institutional seed capital.
Hyman told the FT that the company plans to focus on the affluent south of England and intends to invest a quarter of the portfolio in private hospitals and the rest in elderly and specialist care property. Mr Hyman forecast that care providers would continue to perform well operationally, driven by long-term demand from an ageing population.
“There is no healthcare Reit in the UK for secondary or elderly care, even though it is a big sector in countries such as the US. Even after the recent travails of Southern Cross, we think – and so do our investors – that the sale and leaseback model is very attractive in that sector,” Hyman told the Financial Times.
It shouldn’t be a huge surprised investors in the UK see an opportunity to use the REIT structure after companies like Health Care REIT Inc (NYSE:HCN) and HCP Inc (NYSE:HCP) have been so active in the U.S.
Care home braves hostility over flotation (Financial Times)
