Investment Trust to Buy HCR ManorCare Real Estate

Welltower Inc, a real estate investment trust, is purchasing the real estate of recently bankrupt nursing home giant HCR ManorCare for $2.7 billion, Reuters reports. Welltower will team up with non-profit hospital operator, ProMedica, which purchased ManorCare’s operations for $1.3 billion, to create a 30-state health care system. The partnership plans to capitalize on the trend of more health care taking place outside of hospitals.

If the U.S. Bankruptcy Court approves the deal, the merger stands to boost the group into the 25 largest U.S. health systems by revenue alongside names like Mayo Clinic, Geisinger and Johns Hopkins. ManorCare, which was the second-largest U.S. nursing home operator, filed for Chapter 11 protection in March, with $7.1 billion of debt, as part of a prearranged deal to transfer ownership to its landlord Quality Care Properties Inc.