Chinese investor buys US healthcare portfolio

Chinese insurance company Taikang Insurance Group has acquired a 19 percent stake in a healthcare real estate portfolio for $1 billion. The seller is NorthStar Realty Finance Corp.

The portfolio has a total valuation of $6.1 billion, and the investment represents a cap rate of approximately 6.1 percent. NorthStar expects net proceeds of approximately $340 million from the sale.

Efforts are under way for NorthStar Realty Finance Corp. — which owns 461 healthcare properties, including nearly 200 senior housing assets — to merge with its current external manager NorthStar Asset Management and Colony Capital. NRF previously announced it would dispose of nearly 20 percent of its portfolio of commercial real estate assets in preparation for its three-way merger. NRF expects the transaction to close in first quarter 2017.

Many foreign investors are following the aging demographics and U.S. healthcare trends, which are driving for innovative healt