Omega Healthcare Investors expanding investment portfolio to align with operators
Omega Healthcare Investors executives said Friday that they plan to continue using an investment strategy that has produced more than 1,200% in total shareholder returns over the past 20 years, but they also are making a conscious effort to expand their investments to align with the real estate investment trust’s operators.
During a third-quarter earnings call, President Matthew Gourmand said as the senior living and care industry embarks on an expected period of rapid growth, the Hunt Valley, MD-based REIT is expanding its investments and opportunities, including joint ventures and RIDEA (REIT Investment Diversification and Empowerment Act)-like structures.
“The backdrop continues to be favorable. Operating metrics remain strong, with both occupancy and coverage further improving in the quarter,” CEO Taylor Pickett said. “The pipeline is very active, and we have a strong balance sheet and cost of capital that should allow us to continue to accretively invest.”
Omega completed $151 million in investments in the third quarter, including $67 million in real estate acquisitions, $8 million in real estate loans and $76 million in other investments.
After the quarter ended, the company formed a joint venture with affiliates of Saber Healthcare Group to own and lease 64 facilities previously wholly owned by affiliates of Saber; they include six assisted living communities and 58 skilled nursing facilities in Delaware, Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The joint venture gives Omega a 49% equity ownership stake. Omega indicated that it will partner with Saber affiliates to explore additional acquisitions by the JV.
In conjunction with the JV, Omega and Saber entered into an agreement for Omega to acquire a 9.9% equity ownership interest in Saber Healthcare Holdings, Saber’s parent operating company. The operating company operates 139 facilities — 13 assisted living communities and 126 skilled nursing facilities. That deal is expected to close in January, according to Chief Financial Officer Robert Stephenson.
Chief Investment Officer Vikas Gupta noted that Saber has been an operating partner with Omega for a decade.
Omega’s pipeline for the remainder of 2025 and into 2026 continues to be favorable, Gupta said, with market opportunities both in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Omega’s core portfolio consists of 1,024 facilities, 40% of which are US senior living communities and UK care homes and 60% of which are skilled nursing and transitional care facilities in the United States. Occupancy in the REIT’s core US portfolio is 82.6%, whereas occupancy in its UK and Bailiwick of Jersey portfolio was 90.6% for the quarter. Occupancy in the REIT’s 18-community Maplewood Senior Living portfolio in the United States is at 96%.
