Top 40 law firm Trowers & Hamlins has advised Octopus Real Estate and Schroders Real Estate, on their first joint retirement living investment in the UK.
Schroders and Octopus Real Estate have backed plans to develop and build four retirement villages in Hampshire, Berkshire, Leeds and Cobham in a joint venture with Audley Group with a gross development value of £400 million.
Octopus Real Estate is known for delivering healthcare experiences by investing in carefully designed care homes, retirement villages and other healthcare facilities.
The Audley group has, over the last 10 years, developed the conventional care home concept into providing high-quality retirement properties and launched the UK's very first luxury retirement villages.
The transaction was structured as a mixture of corporate and land acquisitions. As well as advising on the legal structuring, the firm, which specialises in advising on healthcare real estate, also advised on due diligence across multidisciplinary teams involving corporate, construction, tax, planning and real estate expertise.
The Trowers team was led by Kyle Holling with support from Tim Nye, James Huckstep, Claire Scanlon, Lizzie Pillinger, and Christine Whittaker. Trowers & Hamlins Partner Kyle Holling, who led on the deal said:
"We are proud to be working with Octopus Real Estate, which is already very active in the senior living space, on this landmark investment into the retirement living market. Investment in the retirement market is high on our agenda and this project marks the first in an ambitious plan to significantly increase the supply of quality retirement communities around the UK. We understand the importance of investing in quality products and models now to grow the range of options for older people and we look forward to seeing how the project develops."
Kevin Beirne, director retirement, Octopus Real Estate, said: “We’re delighted to be working alongside Audley in this strategic partnership to create the much-needed retirement community real estate for the older population.
“It is fitting that our first investment alongside Schroders is with the retirement communities sector leader.”
Patrick Bone, fund manager at Schroders, said: “We, and Octopus Real Estate, see this is as a highly attractive and unique way to get exposure to best-in-class retirement communities."
