Welltower has announced $23 billion in transactions designed to expand its presence in seniors housing and sharpen its strategic focus on rental housing for aging populations across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. The transactions include $14 billion in acquisitions of more than 700 high-quality seniors housing communities encompassing over 46,000 units. They are expected to be fully funded through $9 billion of asset sales, loan repayments, and cash on hand.
This shift marks a significant evolution in Welltower’s long-term growth strategy. Upon completion, the company’s percentage of net operating income derived from seniors housing is expected to increase to the mid-80% range. The company said the moves represent the next stage of its “Welltower 3.0” transformation, centered on operational excellence, data-driven management, and technological modernization to improve the experience for residents, employees, and investors alike.
The transactions include Welltower’s acquisition of a significant real estate portfolio of Barchester-operated communities in the UK for £5.2 billion, forming an exclusive long-term partnership with Barchester, one of the country’s leading care providers. The portfolio includes 111 communities under a RIDEA management contract, 152 triple-net-leased properties, and 21 ongoing developments that will convert to RIDEA structures upon completion. The blended occupancy rate is currently in the high 70% range, with triple-net leases featuring 3.5% annual escalators and 5-year rent resets. Welltower expects the investment to generate an unlevered internal rate of return in the low double digits.
In a separate deal, Welltower acquired the complete HC-One-operated portfolio for £1.2 billion. Part of the purchase was financed by repaying a £660 million loan originally structured with equity participation during the COVID-19 and Brexit periods. This structure, the company said, has been converted into a long-term ownership position aligned with Welltower’s strategy of enhancing cash flow stability and duration.
The company also announced that it is either under contract or has closed an additional $4 billion of seniors housing acquisitions across nearly 40 transactions in North America. The deals encompass 150 communities and 12,000 units, including prominent properties in Boston and Westchester County, New York, marking the completion of Welltower’s multi-year repositioning of its New England portfolio.
To fund these acquisitions, Welltower will recycle capital by selling outpatient medical assets. The company has agreed to divest an 18 million-square-foot outpatient medical portfolio in a $7.2 billion transaction, exiting property management operations and transferring management responsibilities to Remedy Medical Properties. Following the transaction, Welltower will retain a preferred equity position and profit participation rights in the portfolio, preserving upside while freeing capital for redeployment into high-growth seniors housing investments.
Welltower said the transactions will be accretive to normalized funds from operations per share in 2026, with embedded long-term earnings growth anticipated in the years following. The company emphasized that the transactions were structured to maximize shareholder value while strengthening its operational moat.
KEY QUOTES:
“Through our strategic partnership with Welltower and their significant and ongoing investment into their operating platform, we expect to continue to meaningfully enhance the lives of thousands of older adults by delivering not only exceptional care but also fostering environments rich in social and cognitive engagement. By prioritizing safety, connection, and activity, we’re supporting better long-term health outcomes and consistently high resident satisfaction — hallmarks of a superior living experience. This partnership underscores our unwavering commitment to elevating the quality of care for aging seniors.”
Dr. Pete Calveley, Chief Executive Officer, Barchester Healthcare
“Today’s announcements mark a watershed moment in Welltower’s history as we continue to evolve: intensifying the Company’s focus on seniors housing and accelerating the operational and technological modernization of the business through the Welltower Business System. All capital allocation decisions made at Welltower are viewed through an opportunity cost prism: evaluating the value forgone by pursuing a specific course of action while also forcing us to consider all implications of those decisions, well into the future. We believe that re-doubling our efforts in the seniors housing business represents the surest and fastest path to achieving our mission of elevating both the resident and site-level employee experience, while also enhancing our opportunity to deliver long-term compounding of per share growth for our existing investors.”
“The HC-One loan was originally structured with embedded warrants and an equity stake and was intentionally designed to provide Welltower with both downside protection and meaningful upside participation. These structural features enabled us to play a lead role in the borrower’s recapitalization process, ultimately transforming a finite-maturity loan into a long-term ownership position aligned with Welltower’s growth strategy. The result is an enhanced cash flow profile characterized by both duration and embedded growth — consistent with our strategy of leveraging creative capital deployment to create long-term per share value for existing owners.”
“We are excited to expand our presence in the UK and continue to partner with the highest quality operators as evidenced by the Care Quality Commission in the UK (CQC) having rated 86% of our communities as good or outstanding, well above the national average of 72%, with none of our properties having been rated as inadequate.”
“Through our amplified focus on seniors housing, and an ever-expanding and deepening of our moat, the Welltower Business System, we believe we have successfully laid the foundation for substantial shareholder value creation and long-term compounding of per-share earnings and cash flow growth for our existing owners, our North Star.”
Shankh Mitra, Chief Executive Officer, Welltower
“I was delighted to welcome Welltower at the recent Regional Investment Summit in Birmingham. This significant investment into the care sector will create new capacity and new jobs — the vast majority of which will be outside of London. High quality care for our aging population is one of the most important challenges the government faces. I’m glad to see a long-term and highly respected investor like Welltower continuing to bring their expertise, commitment and technology to the UK.”
Lord Stockwood, UK Minister for Investment
