Castleoak launches care home development fund in partnership with Bridges Ventures 

 

In collaboration with Bridges Ventures, the sustainable growth investor, a £32 million first close of investment was completed into the Healthcare Property Fund, which will be used to develop much-needed, high quality, purpose-built care homes for older people.

With borrowings, the Fund will have an initial investment capacity of over £50m and the size of the fund is set to increase over the coming months. The Fund will have immediate access to a pipeline of predominantly off-market, pre-let care home developments supplied by Castleoak. It will initially invest in three pre-let care home developments with a value of £25m with other transactions already agreed.

The closing represents a further successful property fund launch for Bridges Ventures, following the Bridges Sustainable Property Fund. The new Fund’s focus is closely aligned with the overall mission of Bridges Ventures to use its commercial expertise to achieve social or environmental benefit, as well as attractive returns for investors. In particular, it falls within its Health & Well-being and Environmental impact themes.

Simon Ringer, MD of Property Funds at Bridges Ventures, said “There are very few opportunities in the property sector where it is possible to participate in a proven pipeline of fully consented off market, pre-let developments typically secured on 35 year FRI leases with annually indexed rents. We are delighted to be working in partnership with Castleoak, whose business ethos fits well with ours. The fund will benefit from the long term relationships that Castleoak has established with many of the UK’s most experienced and successful care providers. Its pipeline of sites and 20 years of experience in delivering high quality new build care accommodation will help us to identify the best investment opportunities and, ultimately, to deliver excellent returns for investors.”

This first closing of the Fund has received the support of both institutional and private investors who are seeking to invest in an increasingly attractive property investment sector. 

These include, amongst others, a large Swedish pension fund, Merseyside Pension Fund, Wittington Investments, John Lyon’s Charity, Sir Harry Solomon as well as Portland Place Capital Limited Pension Scheme (Sir Ronald Cohen) and other Bridges Ventures founders and directors and Castleoak. A number of these investors have also invested in the Bridges Sustainable Property Fund.

Mel Knight, CEO of Castleoak, commented “This first close of the fund, and subsequent anticipated investments, will allow us to speed up the supply of high quality purpose built care homes to meet the growing demand for such accommodation. Working with Bridges Ventures, we are confident of delivering long term and sustainable returns to our investors.”