Sale and expansions show hot interest in retirement villages THE retirement and aged-care sector is running red hot, with Retirement Villages Group offloading its stake in Metlifecare at a premium and Japara Aged Care Property Trust securing a major institutional backer. The sale of RVG's 37.7 per cent stake in Metlifecare, which is listed on both the Australian Securities Exchange and the New Zealand bourse, was achieved at an 8 per cent premium to the company's 30-day volume weighted average price. FKP holds 22 per cent of RVG and the sale came through ahead of a critical deadline with RVG's bankers. ANZ Super and New Zealand utilities company Intrafil snapped up the stake in a deal brokered by Goldman Sachs. Metlifecare managing director Alan Edwards said it was a "great outcome" for all parties involved. Metlifecare's strategy includes building up the number of retirement homes it sells each year to 200 units. It will also leverage its recent listing on the local exchange to draw in institutional investors that have mandates that allow for investment only in Australian-listed companies. RVG's stake sale comes as Japara Aged Care Property Trust nears the halfway mark of its capital raising efforts. The group is looking to raise $100m over this financial year. According to its accounts for 2013, the unlisted trust had raised $45m by September 30 through the issue of new units. The accounts also showed it booking a 22 per cent rise in net profit to $12.25m over the 2013 financial year. National Australia Bank and Investec are assisting it with the raising. Japara plans to deploy the proceeds from its capital raising into acquisitions and expand its brownfield sites, as well as paying down some of its $125m in debt. Japara has aspirations to grow its portfolio to 4000 beds through its acquisition program. Since February it has purchased an aged-care centre with 60 beds in the Victorian seaside hamlet of Anglesea and another nursing home in the Melbourne suburb of Dandenong that has 110 beds. The acquisitions take the number of freehold properties it owns to 28 and beds to 3170. In another recent deal in the sector, Quadrant Private Equity this month purchased a majority stake in Victorian aged-care provider Estia Health for $90m. Quadrant director Marcus Darville said his group planned to expand the 1110-bed business through acquisitions. The aged-care sector is highly fragmented, experiencing strong growth driven by the ageing demographic. Estia Health has a substantial opportunity to expand its portfolio to meet the demands of the sector," Mr Darville said.