Aged care operators sell home in $17.8M OpCo/PropCo deal
Aged care operators Judith Don and Ross Humphreys have sold the freehold title of their aged care home in Port Macquarie on the NSW Mid North Coast.
The 107-bed residential aged care facility has been sold to Sydney-based property fund specialists in healthcare real estate, Annerley Group, for $17.8 million, releasing capital as they approach completion of a new facility in August.
The facility, Highfields Manor, located 400km north of Sydney, was purpose-built and completed in 2022. The site is adjacent to the Port Macquarie Base Hospital, opposite the University of NSW Medical Campus while specialist medical services are located nearby.
The property will be leased to Judith and Ross’ private aged care operator Genbridge Partners on a 30-year triple-net lease with 4 × 10-year options.
Queensland home five months from opening
Ross, Director of Genbridge Partners, told The Weekly SOURCE, that the operator expects to complete a 104-bed aged care facility in Tannum Sands, Central Queensland, 500km north of Brisbane – Nobel Life Pacific Aged Care Facility – in August 2026. The project is self-funded.
In addition, Genbridge Partners operates two aged care homes on the Gold Coast, with a combined 174 beds – one in the 35-storey Victoria Towers retirement living community.
Ross described the recent aged care reforms as normal challenges.
“We have a development and acquisition plan, and it seems to be working well. We started this process when nobody was interested in building aged care, but it’ss changed now,” he said.
He said the recent spate of aged care acquisitions demonstrates improved sentiment towards investments in the sector.
“If you operate well, you should do okay,” he said.
All Genbridge Partners aged care homes are operated on an OpCo PropCo basis.
“Our expertise is in operating. And others have an expertise in property, which is more of an asset-like approach,” he said.
Premier healthcare asset
The acquirer of the Port Macquarie Property, unlisted real estate fund Annerley Group, was founded in 2022 by Mitchell Harper and Jay Anderson with a mandate to manage healthcare investments.
Today, the fund has $200 million under investment with nine health properties around Australia. Annerly owns one other aged care property: Aeralife’s The Manor, in Fairfield East, 27km west of the Sydney CBD.
Jay, Annerley Group Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer, said the acquisition is a premier healthcare asset in a location with proven, essential demand.
“Being situated within an established medical precinct ensures this facility will meet the needs of the region’s growing senior population for years to come.”
Further OpCo PropCo deals ahead
Marcello Caspani-Muto, Sandro Peluso and Jimmy Tat of CBRE’s Australian Healthcare & Social Infrastructure Group conducted the off-market transaction.
Marcello said the sale reflects broader structural changes underway in the sector, telling The Weekly SOURCE that his team is working on a $95 million deal related to a South East Queensland portfolio, with an announcement expected shortly.
Over the next five years, Marcello expects a substantial wave of freehold aged care divestment. So-called OpCo PropCo arrangements allow operators to separate property and operating platforms to “unlock scale, capital efficiency and growth”.
“The depth of capital for high quality freehold assets remains extremely strong,” Marcello said.
