Nursing home dealmaking in 2025 was active but often contentious, notably with the ongoing sale of Genesis assets through December, following the company’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy announcement in July.
The case has drawn scrutiny from lawmakers over private equity’s role in Genesis’ financial collapse, as the operator faces more than $2 billion in debt and hundreds of malpractice and wrongful death lawsuits. However, even though the Genesis news was a dominant story in 2025, we didn’t include it in our roster of top deals given that the outcome is still uncertain.
Beyond Genesis, several major transactions reshaped the sector.
Omega Healthcare Investors (NYSE: OHI) and Saber Healthcare formed a $222.4 million joint venture. Welltower (NYSE: WELL) made one of the year’s largest moves with a $6.9 billion acquisition of a Barchester Healthcare portfolio in the U.K., alongside a $1.6 billion recapitalization of HC-One. CareTrust REIT (NYSE: CTRE) completed two mega deals, including an $817 million cash offer for U.K.-based Care REIT and a $437 million acquisition of U.S. skilled nursing facilities. And last but not least, The Ensign Group (Nasdaq: ENSG) added 45 operations in 2025 through a mix of off-market and traditional deals.
Aside from transactions involving big, well-known players, a $545 million “mystery” portfolio sale involving 5,000 beds across seven states highlighted continued investor appetite for large-scale skilled nursing assets.
Omega, Saber JV
Nursing home operator Saber Healthcare and real estate investment trust (REIT) Omega created one of the most notable joint ventures (JVs) of the year, valued at $222.4 million.
The REIT’s executives praised its long-time operating partner for its operations model and growth potential, calling it a standout deal. The transaction included Omega acquiring and leasing 64 facilities from Saber and taking on a minority stake. Omega expects annual yields of at least 8%, with long-term returns exceeding low- to mid-teen targets.
Saber expanded its Pennsylvania footprint by four skilled nursing facilities just one month after the Omega JV. The transaction included 645 total resident beds and became effective Dec. 1.
“We are thrilled to welcome these four facilities into the Saber Healthcare Group family, and to continue our responsible and sustainable growth across Pennsylvania,” Saber President Bill Weisberg said in a press release. “Our mission is simple: to assist in the delivery of high-quality care that supports the Commonwealth’s most vulnerable residents. Expanding our presence will allow us to support more of those residents and bring our commitment to quality to more communities.”
The JV reflects Omega’s broader strategy of acquiring underperforming assets below replacement cost and partnering with proven operators through flexible structures.
Omega holds a 49% interest in the Saber JV portfolio and plans to pursue similar opportunities in the U.S. and U.K.
Welltower dives into U.K. market
And speaking of U.K. acquisitions, Welltower underlined its aggressive acquisition strategy and focus on operator credit quality with a $6.9 billion deal, or £5.2 billion, to purchase a Barchester Healthcare portfolio in October.
Welltower CEO Shankh Mitra said the Barchester deal capped nearly six years of discussions and a pandemic-era near miss, but ending with an agreement with Barchester CEO Dr. Pete Calveley.
The Barchester portfolio consists of 111 RIDEA-managed communities, 152 triple-net leased communities and 21 developments to be converted to RIDEA, Welltower said during its 3Q earnings call.
The deal established a long-term exclusive partnership with Barchester, one of the U.K.’s largest care providers, with the move positioning Welltower for growth with portfolio occupancy above 70%.
Barchester operates more than 200 care homes and seven hospitals in the U.K.
Welltower also highlighted the recapitalization of U.K. operator HC-One for $1.6 billion, or £1.2 billion. The move serves as a long-term value creation opportunity, executives said, noting £660 million in loan repayments at a 12.4% yield and the potential to boost returns through operational improvements and added capital.
Analysts expect the transactions to usher in “golden years” for Welltower’s U.K. strategy.
As for other nursing home transactions, Welltower announced $1.2 billion in skilled nursing investments with the largest portion involving Florida-based Aspire Healthcare, which became the operator of 48 skilled nursing facilities acquired for about $991 million.
The Aspire deal stemmed from a previously failed, or “broken” transaction, allowing Welltower to negotiate a significant price reduction and bring in Aspire, a strong operator, Welltower Co-President and Chief Investment Officer Nikhil Chaudhri said in April.
Despite exciting movement with nursing home investment, the bulk of Welltower’s deals still fall under the seniors housing category, with $23 billion in deals closed or under contract in Q3, Welltower reported.
CareTrust’s acquisitions at home and abroad
CareTrust had two mega deals in 2025, the first being a $817 million cash offer for Care REIT, which operates in the U.K. care homes market. About one-third of CareTrust’s $600 million investment pipeline consists of U.K. care homes now, reflecting an increasing deal flow and strategic focus, alongside continued U.S. skilled nursing investments.
“We have been following the U.K. for some time looking for the right entry point,” Dave Sedgwick, CareTrust’s President and Chief Executive Officer said in March. “We believe we have found it in the Care REIT platform, which has assembled what we consider to be an excellent, diversified portfolio of U.K. assets and operator partnerships.”
CareTrust has built out a London-based team and invested in data science to support global growth and improve efficiency. Sedgwick said CareTrust looks forward to combining the Care REIT platform with its own, while also expanding its mission of growing with great operators.
U.K. expansion and same-store operating portfolio (SHOP) additions are considered new engines of growth for CareTrust, but skilled nursing remains a primary growth driver for the REIT.
The second mega deal occurred in November, with CareTrust announcing a $437 million acquisition of 12 skilled nursing facilities and one SNF campus in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic.
Ensign announcements
The Ensign Group acquired 45 operations in 2025, with more additions expected during 4Q and 1Q 2026, Ensign Chief Investment Officer Chad Keetch said during the company’s 3Q earnings call in November.
Acquisitions were peppered here and there throughout the year, with major deals including an 11-building portfolio in California and seven-building portfolio in Utah.
Keetch described the Utah acquisition as an “off-market transaction” made possible by “a very long-standing relationship between the sellers and our local leaders,” and said Ensign’s strategy to empower local facilities continues to benefit the company.
In 3Q alone, Ensign added 1,857 skilled nursing beds and 109 senior living units to its portfolio.
“As we look at the current pipeline, we continue to include everything from small to midsize, owner operated portfolios, landlords looking to replace current tenants, nonprofits looking to divest of their post acute assets and a steady flow of the traditional onesie twosies,” Keetch said. “However, we’ve also seen some trends in the last few months that show that pricing in certain areas has become too rich to support the fundamentals of the operations.”
7-State Skilled Nursing Portfolio Sells for $545 Million
Real estate advisory firm 3G Healthcare Real Estate piqued the interest of Skilled Nursing News with the sale of an unnamed skilled nursing portfolio comprising 5,000 licensed beds across seven Midwestern and Southeastern states for $545 million.
The mystery portfolio spans Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia.
While 3G didn’t disclose the identity of the seller or buyer by name, sources with knowledge of the deal told Skilled Nursing News that the facilities were previously associated with Tara Cares and were acquired by Illinois-based Cascade Capital Group.
Legacy Healthcare is the operating partner of Cascade.
