Goldman's $200m FKP debt buy reignites talk of listed fund GOLDMAN Sachs's purchase of $200 million of debt in FKP-managed Retirement Villages Group has sparked speculation the investment bank has rekindled its hopes to roll out a new listed retirement fund. Several sources said Goldman Sachs's purchase of the debt was in the vein of a "loan-to-own" arrangement where Goldman Sachs could emerge with control of the debt-strapped unlisted group. The next step of floating the Retirement Villages Group would be a major fee earner for Goldman Sachs, sources said. Listing RVG would give some liquidity for the investors in the wholesale fund, which includes large-scale industry superannuation funds such as Hostplus, REST and a Dutch pension fund. Investors are understood to be happy with RVG's plans to sell its $200m stake in New Zealand-listed retirement group Metlife Care. FKP has its own aspirations to become a pure-play retirement owner and operator and is selling off its commercial and residential properties to facilitate its growth into that sector. Goldman Sachs purchased the debt from Lloyds and Suncorp. Lloyds has been looking to offload its Australian property debt after deciding to exit its business in Australia in 2009. Suncorp has also been looking to reduce its lending to the sector. Earlier this year in an unrelated matter, Goldman Sachs made a move for Becton's retirement assets through the purchase of the debt of the since-collapsed group's retirement portfolio, but a move by Becton's chief executive, Matthew Chun, saw Goldman Sachs elbowed out for ANZ. Goldman Sachs later bought the debt on the residential development-focused headstock just months before Becton, which had been ailing since 2009, went under. FKP is in a much healthier position than Becton, but according to sources, FKP would struggle to buy the 30-odd retirement villages RVG owns, and which are valued at $533m, without conducting another value-eroding capital raising. The company's audited accounts released late last month noted that the company directors were confident it would continue as a going concern. The speculation around a potential float of RVG is a far cry from the original talk that FKP would merge with RVG and Forrest Place to create a $2bn retirement trust. Those plans are said to be getting harder without the support of Stockland, which last month flagged the sale of its 14 per cent stake in FKP. There are also concerns about the tax implications of such a plan. Representatives for FKP and Goldman Sachs were unavailable for comment.