Chai Patel, HC-One’s chairman, says that the company retains ownership of most of its care homes Chris J Ratcliffe / The TimesAn investment group that is set to be the biggest care homes owner in Britain has vowed that it will not become the next Southern Cross. HC-One is poised to acquire about 120 homes from Bupa, possibly through a debt and equity deal amid unease about the implications for the group’s debt levels and with memories of Southern Cross’s collapse fresh in the memory. Southern Cross, which once ran more than 750 care homes and had 37,000 beds and some 41,000 staff, failed in 2011 when all its homes were taken over by their landlords. The equity for the Bupa purchase, which is close to completion, is understood to be being provided by Stepstone Real Estate and Safanad, an investment firm, and the debt arranged…

Source: The Times August 21, 2017 23:03 UTC