Russell Kennedy has advised the Qualitas Group (Qualitas) on the acquisition of three retirement living villages from Stockland Property Group (Stockland).
Legal advisors: Russell Kennedy Lawyers (Qualitas) & Minter Ellison (Stockland)
The portfolio includes Burnside Retirement Village, Taylors Hill Retirement Village and Keilor Retirement Village which are all located in Melbourne’s north-west. The villages include 649 dwellings and are Qualitas’ first investment in the retirement living sector.
Established in 2008, Qualitas manage more than $2.2 billion committed capital.
The acquisition illustrates to the sector investor confidence in the potential uplift in existing retirement villages.
The acquisition is a joint venture between real estate investment manager, Qualitas, and retirement living operator, Centennial Living headed by Derek McMillan. Derek was previously the chief executive of Australian Unity’s retirement and aged care business, he left in 2017 as the longest-running chief executive in the retirement village sector.
The Russell Kennedy team was led by principals Rosemary Southgate and Solomon Miller, with assistance from Kathryn Elleman, John Corcoran and Donna Rayner, and lawyers Eleanor Athanasiou and Lillian Graystone.
Mark Fischer, Managing Director, Principal Investments at Qualitas said: “Qualitas considers the investment to be a counter-cyclical opportunity suitable for sophisticated private capital with the investment thesis benefiting from the well-understood, long-term demographic trends of an ageing population.”
“Qualitas was attracted to the strong occupancy rates and the long-term value-add potential of the villages, being within well-established residential communities in the north western growth corridors of Victoria.”
“The retirement living sector is undergoing structural changes underpinned by favourable demographics and industry drivers. We see significant opportunities for these assets to deliver strong, risk-adjusted returns to investors going forward.”
This deal has been covered by LawyersWeekly here, and the Australasian Lawyer here.
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