EQT’s Metlifecare plans NZ$210M investment in one new village

New Zealand continuum of care owner/operator Metlifecare, which is owned by Swedish equity fund EQT, which created the Levande brand in Australia in August last year, is committing NZ$210M to one village and NZ$125M to a second new village in Auckland. They have been given approval by NZ’s Overseas Investment Office (OIO) for two land purchases. Metlifecare, which has 36 retirement villages, has bought a total of 12ha of land in Auckland and Hastings, for a combined NZ$34.5 million. The OIO had to give approval to EQT Partners Infrastructure Fund IV as the land was banned from overseas buyers. Metlifecare CEO Earl Gasparich, who said continuum of care is the new norm at the 2020 LEADERS SUMMIT, said it would invest around NZ$210m on its new site on Pukekohe Hill, about 50km south of Auckland’s CBD. The second piece of land approved for development by Metlifecare is for 4.6ha in Havelock North, 2km from Hastings. The provider will spend around NZ$125m on a village in one of the country’s fastest-growing areas.