Singapore-based asset manager Keppel Capital has entered the US seniors living market through a joint venture with Watermark Retirement Communities.
Keppel Capital Senior Living has agreed to buy a 50% stake in Watermark’s management platform as well as a 50% minority interests held by Watermark’s owners in some of the retirement communities for $77.3m (€66.7m).
Watermark’s management platform currently manages assets valued at $2.7bn. The assets are made up of 52 senior housing communities in 21 states across the US.
Watermark plans to increase its portfolio to more than 60 communities by 2020.
David Freshwater, Watermark’s chairman, said Keppel brings “valuable international business experience and savvy to support Watermark’s worldwide expansion in the years to come”.
Beyond the US, Watermark has formed Watermark Senior Living China Limited, targeting the Greater China region. It also has a joint venture with a Chinese state-owned financial group to manage its senior living projects across China.
Loh Chin Hua, CEO of Keppel Corporation, Keppel Capital’s parent company, said: “This acquisition is a strategic move for Keppel to expand into this new growth sector, leveraging Watermark’s deep expertise and agile business model.
“As a solutions provider for sustainable urbanisation, Keppel is well placed to expand our capabilities into the senior living sector with a view to offering customised solutions to Singapore and other markets in Asia.”
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