Northern Horizon exits first Finnish care home fund in €155m deal

Helsinki-based fund manager Northern Horizon has sold its Healthcare I fund’s entire care home portfolio to a fund managed by Finnish boutique wealth manager eQ.

The 27-asset portfolio was sold for €155 mln. It provides around 50,000 m2 of space built between 2006 and 2012.

Healthcare I, a closed-ended limited liability partnership, is was launched in 2007 as a pioneer in the Finnish care sector, with capital from six blue-chip Finnish institutions.

'The exit completes the life-cycle of the fund as scheduled at inception. In combination with the regular distributions paid since the fund was fully invested, this exit generates a net IRR of over 10% and a 1.9x equity multiple to our investors, exceeding initial targets set in 2007,' said Jussi Rouhento, fund manager of the Healthcare I fund and Northern Horizon’s head of Finland.

Michael Schönach, Group CEO of Northern Horizon and Chairman of Healthcare I, added: 'The attractive return, in particular for a 2007 vintage fund, demonstrates the defensiveness of the care home sector.'

Northern Horizon currently has a further 20 care homes under construction for its Healthcare II fund. 'Furthermore, we are currently expanding our care home platform across our entire Nordic home market, which continues to provide opportunities with highly attractive risk-adjusted returns for our strategy,' added Schönach.

JLL advised Northern Horizon on the deal.

'We are extremely pleased to facilitate the largest transaction ever in the Finnish healthcare segment. The portfolio attracted strong Nordic and International investor interest which underlines the growing appetite towards Finland and the alternatives sector throughout Europe,' said Christian Hohenthal, head of Capital Markets at JLL Finland.

The deal has lifted the assets of eQ Care to over €430 mln. The fund currently owns 123 care properties in Finland, all fully let and occupied by leading care providers in Finland.

The open-ended fund has returned 8.4% per annum since inception net of all fees including a 6% annual income distribution.