Romano Senior buy lifts Azora’s senior care stake to €500m

Romano Senior, a SOCIMI (Spanish REIT) established by Azora with Banca March and Indosuez Wealth Management, has acquired 11 care homes, in a sale and leaseback deal with Spain’s largest care home operator, DomusVi group.

Four of the care homes are newly built in Seville, Gerona (pictured above), Murcia and Vitoria, and the rest are in Bilbao (Ribera, Miraflores, Arbidea and Aperribai), Galicia (Narón and Vigo) and Madrid. The portfolio provides a total of 1,400 beds.

DomusVi will continue to operate the homes on long-term leases. The agreement includes a commitment to invest in the adaptation of the homes to the sector’s latest standards and to sustainability criteria. There will also be a major upgrade of the Ribera care home to position it as one of the best residences in the city.

Following the transaction, Romano Senior has a portfolio of 16 assets and 96.000 sq m and has become one of the leading investors in real estate assets for the elderly. It also has long-term rental contracts with operators including Colisee, Amavir and Emeis, as well as DomusVi.

“With Romano Senior we continue with our commitment to contribute to responding to the growing deficit of quality assets for the elderly in the face of the ageing population trend,” Azora partner Javier Picón said. “This strategic commitment has resulted in an investment, between the different companies managed by Azora, of close to €500 million in assets in the senior category, making us one of the main players in the market.”

Savills and Bird & Bird advised DomusVi while Perez Llorca and Almar acted for Romano Senior.

Author: Paul Strohm
Source: Real Asset Insight by Real Asset Media