About 3000 people live in Oceania's New Zealand care facilities and 1000 people are in its retirement villages, which Gasparich said made the business second only to Bupa in New Zealand in terms of size.
Oceania plans to develop sites in Auckland, Tauranga, Nelson and Christchurch to expand its business, catering for rising demand.
"The targeted build rate is 200 units a year. That can be accommodated on brownfields sites," Gasparich said, referring to Oceania's existing land bank.
"We've got seven years until we need to buy another block of land."
Oceania village residents lose 30 per cent of their initial purchase price within three years, but Gasparich said that aspect was hardly ever queried because people were thinking more about care than money when they bought.
Oceania has 50 sites and 42 care facilities but Gasparich said it was different to listed retirement specialists because it owned more care facilities than retirement village units.
Development is planned or under way at four Auckland sites:
At Browns Bay's existing Maureen Plowman rest home, retirement village and aged-care redevelopment on Valley Rd/Manly Esplanade corner. Gasparich said a $40 million five-level beach-front development is planned and the application to Auckland Council has been notified for public comment.
About $100 millon will be spent on the existing Meadowbank Village at 148-154 Meadowbank Rd. "We have resource consent for approximately 200 retirement village apartments and an aged-care facility with stages one and two already completed, comprising 56 units," he said.
At Lady Allum in Milford, on the North Shore, a further $36 million is expected to be spent on that half-hectare site, developing a further 43 apartments to complement an existing 143-bed care facility and 100 retirement village units. Lady Allum is fully consented and development will start at the end of the year.
At Manurewa's Elmwood, opposite the Auckland Botanical Gardens, an additional 20 cottages are planned to complement an existing 139-bed care facility and 100 retirement village units.
"We plan to start early next year. It's not consented yet and it's a pure add-on to a well-established village," Gasparich said of Elmwood.
High debt levels resulted in Oceania making a loss in its 2014 financial year.
"The reason why we're looking at an IPO was to address that - to raise more capital to enable us to continue the development growth."
Gasparich welcomed the new Retirement Village Residents Association.
"It's a good thing because anything that will enable clarity to the general market in terms of what villages are and what they are not just enhances resolutions of key issues."
Oceania residents live for an average of two years after entering the rest home, about one-and-a-half years after entering a hospital, rest home or care facility and between one-and-a-half years and two years after entering a dementia facility, Gasparich said.
However, he said these areas were sensitive and emphasised that Oceania offered more care facilities than many of the other operators.
Oceania
•4000 residents live at its properties.
•3000 in care, 1000 in villages.
•Owns and manages 50 facilities in NZ.
•$450m-$500m expansion planned.
•Possible NZX listing.
•Weekly fees: Meadowbank $120, Lady Allum $125, Elmwood $95, Eden $139.
[Source: Oceania Healthcare]
