Australian Unity raises $170m for healthcare property
Australian Unity’s unlisted healthcare real estate fund raised $170 million in just two days as it looks to bankroll its development pipeline.
The $1.2 billion Healthcare Property Trusts has $500 million in opportunities including both greenfield and brownfield developments.
The Australian Unity Healthcare Property Trust had been forced to suspend new applications to invest one year ago after a surge in new capital threatened to dilute distributions to existing investors.
But on May 15, it opened its doors again to raise funds to help drive its pipeline.
By mid-afternoon the following day, Australian Unity had closed the offer after strong demand from both new and existing investors.
“It’s a pleasing endorsement of HPT’s long and consistent track record, the experience of its property managers, the positive outlook for healthcare property and our clear and measured growth agenda for HPT,” said Mark Pratt, general manager of property.
The raising will help fund brownfield development at the Valley Private Hospital at Mulgrave, and the Primary Health Care Medical Centre at Greensborough, both in Victoria.
It will also support ongoing work at the Brisbane Waters Private Hospital in NSW.
Projects in the fund’s greenfield book will also benefit, including the Primary Health Care Medical Centre at Robina in Queensland and the Tuggerah Lakes Private Hospital in New South Wales.
Proceeds raising will be directed into the Specialist Rehabilitation and Ambulatory Care Centre, which is part of the $1.1 billion Herston Quarter redevelopment in Brisbane.
More broadly, investment has been flowing strongly into the healthcare sector in the past year, pushing up prices, increasing competition for existing assets and driving more development.
That appetite has spurred major transactions. In recent weeks Sydney manager Barwon Investment Partners and New Zealand’s Vital Healthcare have snared a large part of the $180 million Evolution hospitals portfolio on tight yields.
As well, the board of locally listed Generation Healthcare REIT has backed a $508 million takeover offer from its major shareholder, Canada’s NorthWest Healthcare Properties.
Established almost two decades ago, the Australian Unity fund owns 40 healthcare assets along the eastern seaboard, including the Campus Alpha building at Robina and the Robina Private Hospital, which are part of a growing healthcare precinct on the Gold Coast.
