Moelis Australia has signalled its willingness to be involved in the domestic aged care sector, picking up a 10 per cent stake in Japara Healthcare via an after-market raid on Monday.
As first reported by Street Talk, the advisory and funds management firm secured 10 cent of Japara's shares on issue at $2.00 a share, worth about $53 million.
"The acquirer and its associates currently hold a 6.1 per cent interest in Japara," according to a term sheet sent to investors and obtained by this column.
Moelis' equities desk executed the raid.
The offer price equated to a 7.5 per cent premium to Japara's last close and an 8.6 per cent premium to the five-day volume-weighted average price.
It is understood Moelis was buying on behalf of its asset management business, which will fold the slice of Japara into its newly created fund, The Moelis Aged Care Fund. Moelis also acquired a 70 per cent stake in aged care company Infinite Care from Next Capital last month.
At the time, the Andrew Pridham-led firm said the fund would target a 20 per cent per annum total return to third party investors over four years.
It said that Infinite Care would have a total value of more than $450 million once its 1,500 bed pipeline is fully developed.
Moelis has seen its share price rise from $2.35 to $5.60 since listing in April. The firm raised $110 million in equity and $32 million in bonds last month, giving it a growth war chest of $170 million.
