RWK Goodman advises Gold Care Homes on share sale and property leaseback
A Bath-based team from UK top 100 law firm RWK Goodman has advised the shareholders of Gold Care Holdings Limited on the circa £90m sale of the Gold Care group to an overseas real estate investor. The transaction included a pre-sale reorganisation and property sale and leaseback of 18 care homes.
Gold Care Homes was established in 1999 and has since grown to operate 21 care homes through development, mergers and acquisitions. The homes are located throughout southern and central England, and focus on the private and public pay markets. The transaction involves 18 of the homes, located mainly in Southern England and Birmingham. The remaining homes will be operated outside the sale and leaseback agreement.
Paul Daniels, a real estate partner at RWK Goodman in Bath, which has a dedicated social care sector team, said: “We worked closely with Gold Care Homes and their tax advisers to structure the deal and provide comprehensive pre-sale support, which included corporate and property advice. An important part of our work was advising the owners of Gold Care Homes on various regulation and compliance issues in relation to registering four new operating companies to run and administer the care homes.”
Hazel Phillips, a partner at RWK Goodman who led the corporate aspects of the deal from Bath, said: “This was a complex transaction and we were delighted to be able to achieve the result Gold Care Homes was looking for, working closely with all parties and covering all the legal aspects, including the rigorous CQC requirements, to get it over the line.”
Global real estate adviser CBRE advised Gold Care Homes on the property sale and leaseback.
Peter Farnes of CBRE commented: “This latest transaction shows the continued appetite from international investors for UK healthcare assets and the elderly care market. This underscores the growing investor demand to grow and develop regional care businesses and benefit from index linked returns. The transaction provides Gold Care Homes with a secured source of capital for future developments and acquisitions.”
The purchaser was advised by Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer and CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang.