Germany's HSH Real Estate has set up a joint venture with listed Australian investment and property company Mariner Finance to acquire and manage portfolios in Germany's nursing homes sector. The partners said they will also seek to invest in other 'age care' assets.
Germany's HSH Real Estate has set up a joint venture with listed Australian investment and property company Mariner Finance to acquire and manage portfolios in Germany's nursing homes sector. The partners said they will also seek to invest in other 'age care' assets.
HSH Real Estate, a subsidiary of HSH Nordbank, the initiative is aimed at Australian institutional investors. Mariner is to establish a fund structures in Australia and will manage the vehicles. HSH's role is to advise the funds on acquiring properties through a specially created subsidiary. HSH will also provide asset and property management services.
Marc Weinstock, CEO of HSH Real Estate, explained: 'As a start we want to acquire a portfolio consisting of nursing homes and are aiming at a total investment volume of EUR 500mln.' The creation of the portfolio and the purchase by Australian institutional investors will be carried out in several tranches over the next three years.
HSH Real Estate said the search for investment properties is underway and the first assets are being examined.
The German company said in a research report that there will be up to EUR 12bn worth of new demand for nursing homes in Germany to cater for the greying of the population over the next 12 years. In May LB Immo Invest, a German investment company founded by HSH Real Estate, Real I.S. and Landesbank Hessen-Thuringen announced it will launch a special EUR 500mln property fund to invest mainly in German nursing homes.
The fund will invest in some 50 nursing homes with a price ranging from EUR 8mln to EUR 13mln and targeting a net yield of between 6.75% and 7% a year. The company said the first ten assets, comprising three development projects, have already been identified and will involve a total investment of EUR 95mln. HSH Real Estate has also increased its ownership stake in LB Immo Invest.
Swedish listed property company Kungsleden launched an international retirement homes initiative in June 2006 with the acquisition of nine properties in Germany for EUR 74mln. The company has continued to build its portfolio since then. Kungsleden said the German market is fragmented and the demographics are favourable. In 2006 Germany's retirement homes had about 600,000 residents, but this figure was expected to increase to around 900,000 in 2025 and 1.6 million by 2050.
