CareTrust to Buy 45 UK Care Homes in £1.1 Billion Deal
The REIT is buying 45 new UK care homes from LNT Care Developments to build a senior housing operating portfolio platform, with 24 homes already closed and 21 more to follow as they complete.
CareTrust REIT, Inc. (CTRE), a self-administered, publicly traded real estate investment trust, entered into a definitive agreement with LNT Care Developments Holdings Limited, a United Kingdom-based care home developer and operator, to acquire 45 new care homes for approximately £1.1 billion. The company said the transaction is a strategic step toward building a significant senior housing operating portfolio, or SHOP, platform across the UK.
The first closing already occurred on October 1, 2026, and comprised 24 homes, all constructed within the past two years, for approximately £576 million, or about $764 million, exclusive of transaction costs. CareTrust funded that first tranche with proceeds from the settlement of outstanding forward equity agreements and a draw on its revolving credit facility.
The remaining 21 homes are still under development. CareTrust will acquire them for approximately £504 million upon completion and receipt of regulatory approvals, which are anticipated on a rolling basis throughout 2027.
Chief Investment Officer James Callister framed the deal as a way to partner with a prolific UK developer while keeping the investment accretive as the homes lease up, with a defined path into a SHOP structure once the assets stabilize. “The chance to build a close relationship with LNT—one of the most productive and proven care home developers in the United Kingdom—while doing it in a way that is accretive rather than dilutive as the homes lease up, and with a defined path into a SHOP structure upon stabilization, is what makes this check all the boxes for us,” he said.
CareTrust already owns long-term net-leased properties in the United States and the United Kingdom and has been pursuing external and organic growth across both markets. In March 2025 it agreed to a recommended cash acquisition of Care REIT plc, a UK care-home REIT with 137 homes and about 7,500 operating beds, for a total purchase price of approximately $817 million, including assumed net debt. The LNT asset purchase sits alongside that Care REIT build-out as the company assembles UK care-home real estate.
The remaining 21 homes are expected to close on a rolling basis throughout 2027 as construction finishes and regulatory approvals arrive. CareTrust will acquire those assets for approximately £504 million upon completion.