Retirement village action: Oceania, Infratil/Super Fund, Winton, Radius - who's buying, who's selling

Remuera Rise retirement village which Oceania has agreed to buy. Photo / supplied

It's all go on the retirement village front.

Oceania Healthcare has struck a deal to buy two new retirement villages. Infratil and the NZ Super Fund is looking to sell in Australia. Winton Land plans Auckland's first inner-city high rise village and Radius Residential Care has won approval to buy properties it had previously leased.

In an announcement yesterday from Oceania chief executive Brent Pattison, the company said it had agreed to buy Auckland's Remuera Rise and Ruakākā's Bream Bay villages, striking a deal with lenders to increase borrowing limits from $350m to $500m.

Its annual result for the March 31 year will be out on May 20.

Remuera Rise is in Newmarket and the high-rise block has views to the Hauraki Gulf. It has 58 independent living apartments and 12 specialist care residences. Bream Bay Village has 83 villas on a large 4.7ha site.

Oceania said the deal was expected to settle around July, conditional on a statutory supervisor's approval.

In March, Infratil and the NZ Super Fund announced an ownership review of RetireAustralia which houses more than 5000 residents in 28 villages in New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland.

The businesses own that Australian entity jointly.

Jason Boyes, Infratil chief executive, said on March 1: "The RetireAustralia management team and staff have performed extremely well in very trying times, and the business is now performing strongly. We feel it is a good time to assess the scale of the investment in our portfolio and whether there is a higher value owner to support delivering the business's strategic plan".

Winton Land plans a new Northbrook retirement village on land in the Beaumont St area of Auckland's waterfront Wynyard Quarter. That could be Auckland CBD's first high-rise retirement village.

"You've worked hard, now it's time to enjoy the best a city has to offer. Northbrook Wynyard Quarter will provide easy access to the very best of Auckland's famous waterfront. From dining, theatre, cycling, shops, walking to boating. This is one of the most sought after locations in New Zealand," Winton said in promotional material for that village.

At the half-year results announcement on February 24, the company said it was making good progress on Northbrook, assembling an experienced team to execute its retirement strategy led by ex-Summerset CEO Julian Cook.

Chris Meehan, Winton's chief executive, said five retirement village projects were either planned or under development which would yield 917 units. Each current project is at various stages of seeking resource consent, with the first retirement properties expected to be completed during 2024.

Radius Residential Care got shareholder agreement for a $46.7m deal last week to buy four sites it already leased from its landlord UCG Investments. It then told the NZX it had gone ahead and settled the deals to buy the land.

Those sites are Auckland's Arran Court valued at $14.1m, St Joans in Hamilton valued at $11m, Fulton in Dunedin valued at $13.6m and Palmerston North's Peppertree valued at $7.8m.

All up, the sites have accommodation for 342 rest home/hospital beds in villages Radius runs.

"By purchasing strategically important facilities already operated but not owned, we expect a reduction in operating costs of around $3.6m," shareholders were told at a special meeting last week.

Ryman Healthcare's full-year result is due out on May 20 with presentations from chairman Greg Campbell, chief executive Richard Umbers, chief financial officer David Bennett and Australia chief executive Cameron Holland.