Four Seasons to take control of 45 Southern Cross homes

FOUR Seasons Healthcare, the Wilmslow-based care operator, has agreed to take on 45 homes run by beleaguered Southern Cross.

Four Seasons owns the properties and leases them to Southern Cross which is trying to strike deals with the landlords of its 752 homes.

The 45 care homes contain a total of 1,921 beds, with average occupancy of around 80%.

Southern Cross, the UK’s largest residential care home provider, adopted the sale and leaseback model for its property estate but is now struggling with a rising rent bill. Its problems have been compounded by declining fees from local authorities.

A spokesman for Four Seasons said: “As an operator we would like to take back these homes and have the opportunity to operate them ourselves.”

He added: “Southern Cross will be working with us to facilitate the smooth handover with no disruption to residents.”

The change is expected to happen in September. Four of the homes are in the North West: Downshaw Lodge, Ashton-under-Lyne; Broughton Court, Salford; Garden Lodge, Liverpool; and Maple Lodge, Halewood.

Four Seasons, which owns and operates 400 care homes, was itself close to failure several years ago after stuggling to renegotiate a massive debt burden of £1.7bn.

A major refinancing in 2009 saw its main lender, Royal Bank of Scotland, take a 38% stake in the business in a deal which reduced its debts to £790m. In September a deal was agreed to extend the time limit on these debts by two years to 2012.