Thomas DeRosa, CEO of Health Care REIT, Inc. (NYSE: HCN), joined REIT.com for a CEO Spotlight video interview during REITWeek 2014: NAREIT’s Investor Forum, held in New York.
The health care REIT sector has seen a heightened level of activity in 2014 on both the transactions and capital markets front. Health Care REIT completed a major equity offering earlier in the year that netted the company $1 billion in fresh capital. DeRosa called his company’s pipeline for acquisitions “very strong.”
Health Care REIT’s business model relies on more than 30 operating partners that produce the majority of the company’s investment opportunities, according to DeRosa. In the first half of 2014, they generated in excess of more than $500 million in new investments for Health Care REIT.
“We have continued to find growth opportunities both inside the U.S. and outside the U.S.,” he said.
Health Care REIT is also using its development platform to expand its portfolio. The company is currently building new assets for its senior living and medical facilities portfolios. Those projects include new facilities being built in the United Kingdom, where the company has more than $2 billion invested.
“There has been a change in demand there,” DeRosa said. “You have a much wealthier population that is seeking private-pay, long-term care options versus those that would be offered by the National Health Service.”
DeRosa also offered his opinion on other opportunities for expansion outside the United States. Twelve percent of Health Care REIT’s assets lie outside the United States.
“We have grown outside the U.S. the same way we have grown inside the U.S., which is by finding the best-in-class operating partners,” he said. “We think that’s a very sane way to move outside our core market.”