Jersey-based private equity investment manager ActivumSG Capital Management (ASG) has integrated two German senior housing developers into a new entity called Carestone, creating the country’s largest platform with a pipeline to deliver €1.4 bn of projects.
An ASG-managed fund acquired WI-IMMOGroup in 2016 and purchased WirtschaftsHaus in late 2018. The two specialist developers are now being merged into a new entity which will seek to address the 300,000-unit shortfall in accommodation and care facilities for elderly citizens in Germany by 2030.
Carestone plans to develop more than 2,500 senior housing units in 2020 and expects to generate revenues of more than €300 mln.
The move mirrors the corporate takeover approach taken by ASG in the creation of German residential real estate developer Instone Real Estate, which listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange last year. ASG formed Instone through the acquisition of specialist developer Formart from Hochtief in October 2014, followed by the purchase of Leipzig-based GRK 14 months later.
Commenting on the creation of Carestone, Saul Goldstein, ASG’s founder and managing partner, said: ‘Carestone is strongly positioned to address the accommodation needs of Germany’s ageing population. We saw that the fragmented market needed a platform of scale to deliver the new stock required, so deliberately avoided the scramble to buy existing assets. Our corporate acquisitions approach mirrors a lot of the thinking that went into our strategy for Instone Real Estate, the residential development business we built and listed last year on the Frankfurt bourse.’
ASG had appointed Karl Reinitzhuber as co-CEO of Carestone in January in preparation of the integration of the companies. He previously held several senior leadership positions, including most recently as senior advisor at HBS Global Properties & ILD Group and CEO at Unibail-Rodamco Germany. Edwin Thiemann, former head of WirtschaftsHaus, will hold the role of co-CEO.
Commenting on the formation of Carestone, Reinitzhuber said: ‘Up until now, both companies have been extremely successful, having developed and promoted the senior housing asset class for private investors over the last 20 years. Carestone will continue to develop on the strong success of both companies.
‘I am convinced that the merger and joint venture will allow us to have more impact on the market as Carestone is a growth story. As the market leader, we focus on quality, reliability and long-term returns for our investors.’
