Last Thursday ASX listed Forest Place Group announced it was seeking shareholder approval to rebrand the company and trade as Aveo Healthcare Ltd. Forest Place is 86% owned by FKP, the parent of the Aveo village group. Since 2006 the five Forest Place villages have operated and been managed under the Aveo brand (Aveo Albany Creek, Clayfield, Cleveland, Durack and Taringa).
The fascinating explanation provided to the stock exchange is the name change aligns with “a broader strategy of providing a continuum of care across its portfolio of high quality retirement and aged care facilities in SE QLD”. This in fact marries perfectly with the stated strategy of FKP chairman Mr Seng Huang Lee (and chairman of FKP’s largest shareholder, Malaysia’s Mulpha) who points to their investment in New Zealand’s Metlifecare which is New Zealand’s third largest village and care operator.
At the same time last week Forest Place chairman Peter Brown retired from the board while Alison Quinn, the Executive General Manager ofRretirement at FKP, was appointed as an Executive Director of Forest Place. Peter Brown was CEO of FKP until mid last year and remains chairman of Metlifecare in New Zealand. There is now separation of the two responsibilities between the two publicly listed companies.
Aveo in Australia has never embraced aged care, preferring to offer the traditional retirement village accommodation offering with an emphasis on ‘lifestyle’.
Meanwhile a big question hangs over the future of Retirement Villages Group (RVG), in particular with 29 villages that are managed by Aveo. RVG was originated by Macquarie Bank and FKP and has struggled to deliver on investor expectation.