Retirement village sold in £102m deal

A Warwickshire retirement village has been sold as part of a £102m deal.

Legal & General has bought a portfolio of four retirement villages portfolio from Helical, which is disposing of non-core assets. The sale was agreed at a 13% discount to its book value of £117m.

The property deal includes Maudslay Park, a 166-unit development site at Great Alne, as well as sites in Hampshire, West Sussex and Devon. In total, the portfolio will contain 694 units once completed.

Gerald Kaye, chief executive of Helical, said: “Whilst we have generated good profits in the past from our retirement village portfolio we firmly believe that now is the right time to sell our interests, reduce our gearing and focus solely on our core sectors where we expect to be able to generate stronger shareholder returns in the future.”

As part of the transaction, Helical has transferred the £46m of debt secured against the portfolio to the purchaser and will receive 50% of the total net sale proceeds of £51m on completion, with the remainder deferred for 12 months.

Helical’s core focus remains on high-quality London and Manchester offices and the logistics sector. Following this sale, non-core assets comprise just 4% of the Group’s total portfolio.