KKR Forms JV To Target $1B In Healthcare Real Estate

Global investment firm KKR has formed a joint venture with Cornerstone Companies, a healthcare real estate investment, development and management firm, to acquire and develop a portfolio of healthcare properties across the United States.

KKR and Cornerstone have seeded the portfolio with the recapitalization of 25 healthcare properties owned by Cornerstone. With funding commitments provided by KKR’s real estate and credit funds and Cornerstone, the Joint Venture is positioned to acquire more than $1 billion in real estate assets over the next few years.

The portfolio recapitalized by KKR and Cornerstone includes 713,705 square feet of medical office buildings and ambulatory surgery centers located across 12 states, with in place long-term leases to a high quality group of healthcare systems, physician group practices and surgery center operators. Cornerstone and KKR will work together to grow the portfolio through acquisitions and net lease development opportunities, with a focus primarily on long-term leased single-tenant medical office buildings, ambulatory surgery centers and facility-based outpatient healthcare assets.

“KKR is one of the world’s largest investment firms with incredible connectivity across industries, including deep experience investing in the healthcare and real estate sectors,” said Tag Birge, President and CEO of Cornerstone. “This strategic partnership significantly increases our reach and capacity to deliver investment and development solutions for leading physician groups and health systems. We are very excited to work with a partner in KKR who shares our commitment to lasting client relationships and strong focus on portfolio construction and underwriting.”

“We are pleased to collaborate with the highly-regarded team of industry specialists at Cornerstone to invest in a scaled portfolio of healthcare properties,” said Peter Sundheim, Director at KKR. “The recapitalization of 25 well-situated seed assets creates a strong foundation for our Joint Venture.”

“We will contribute capabilities from across KKR’s real estate, credit and healthcare industry teams to support sourcing and underwriting of assets for the Joint Venture,” said Michelle Hour, Director at KKR. “As investors in the healthcare sector for more than two decades, our relationships and understanding of the needs of tenants will help us to provide attractive ownership for their mission-critical real estate.”

Additional financial terms of the Joint Venture and recapitalization transaction were not disclosed.

Newmark’s Healthcare Capital Markets Group advised Cornerstone and KKR on establishing the Joint Venture, represented Cornerstone on the portfolio recapitalization transaction, and provided advice to KKR on debt financing. CBRE’s Healthcare and Life Sciences Capital Markets Group provided buyside advisory services to KKR on the portfolio recapitalization transaction. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP acted as legal counsel to KKR.

 

Source: Real Estate Weekly

HCA Healthcare And Brookdale Senior Living Sell Off Large Chunk Of Home Health Joint Venture

A little more than two months after closing a $400 million deal to purchase a majority stake in Brookdale Health Care Services, HCA Healthcare Inc. is selling off a large chunk of its new joint venture.

Home health care provider LHC Group has agreed to purchase 23 home health locations, 11 hospice and 13 outpatient therapy agencies across 22 states from the HCA and Brookdale Senior Living joint venture, according to a news release. Terms of the deal, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter, were not disclosed.

HCA officially completed its purchase of a majority stake in BHS — Brookdale’s home health, hospice and outpatient therapy business — in July at a price tag of $400 million.

The deal implied a $500 million value for BHS, enabling Brookdale to retain a 20% stake in the division. At the time, BHS operated 57 home health agencies, 22 hospice agencies and 84 outpatient therapy locations across 26 states, providing care at Brookdale facilities and inside patients’ homes.

The facilities that are being sold to LHC Group are not in HCA markets, according to the release. HCA (NYSE: HCA) is Nashville’s largest publicly traded company and the nation’s biggest hospital operator, with $51.5 billion of revenue in 2020. The company operates 185 hospitals across 20 states.

“In July, HCA Healthcare purchased a majority stake in Brookdale Health Care Services to expand access to healthcare services for our patients,” HCA CEO Sam Hazen said in the release. “We believe the sale to LHC Group of these sites of care, which were part of that transaction and are not in communities we currently serve, positions them for continued success.”

Brookdale is the nation’s largest senior-living community operator, with 737 facilities in 44 states. The company reported $3.5 billion of revenue in 2020, making it one of Nashville’s largest publicly traded health care companies, according to Nashville Business Journal research.

Brookdale received $300 million upfront as part of its joint venture deal with HCA, strengthening the Brentwood-based company’s liquidity and creating value for shareholders.

The sale of a large portion of BHS to LHC Group brings more liquidity to Brookdale, according to the release.

“We are looking forward to working with LHC Group, another national provider of healthcare services,” Brookdale CEO Cindy Baier said in the release. “This transaction will further strengthen our liquidity, maintain our 20% interest in the venture with HCA Healthcare, and ensure that high-quality home health and hospice services continue to be available to our residents at communities in these markets. I’m pleased that Brookdale’s residents will benefit from a seamless offering of services across our broad care continuum.”

 

Source: Nashville Biz Journal

DigitalBridge Group Agrees To Sell Wellness Portfolio For $3.2 Billion

DigitalBridge Group Inc., the real estate investment trust led by Chief Executive Officer Marc Ganzi, agreed to sell its so-called wellness infrastructure portfolio of more than 300 facilities in a transaction valued at $3.2 billion.

The REIT is set to obtain $316 million in proceeds from the sale of the division, which includes senior housing and skilled-nursing facilities, hospitals and medical office buildings, to Highgate Capital Investments and Aurora Health Network, according to the newly released statement. Highgate and Aurora are set to assume about $2.9 billion in associated debt. Bloomberg News first reported the agreement earlier.

“We’re incredibly bullish about our ability to get the right price for that asset and, ultimately, find the right home for it,” Ganzi said on a second-quarter earnings call last month.

The REIT is working to rotate away from real estate sectors that were favored by its founder Tom Barrack and exclusively pursue digital infrastructure assets such as data centers, fiber networks and cell towers.

“There’s a path to finish the mission between now and the end of the year to get to 100% digital,” Ganzi said at a conference last month.

Boca Raton, Florida-based DigitalBridge, formerly known as Colony Capital, in June agreed to sell assets to Fortress Investment Group LLC. In March, it announced the completion of its sale of a hotel portfolio to Highgate and an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management LP. Those transactions followed other divestitures including the sale of a stake in real estate investment firm RXR Realty as well as its warehouse portfolio.

DigitalBridge’s shares have gained 146% in the past 12 months, outperforming the Bloomberg U.S. Real Estate Large & Mid Cap Price Return Index, which rallied around 33% over the same period.

Highgate, led by Mahmood and Mehdi Kimji, has historically focused on hotels, its website shows. Its partner on the transaction, Aurora, led by Joel Landau and Leo Friedman, has been an owner-operator of skilled nursing facilities.

 

Source: Wealth Management