CareTrust Buys $400M Skilled Nursing Portfolio

CityBiz reports that CareTrust REIT completed a $400M Southwest acquisition effective Sept. 1. The skilled nursing portfolio transaction added 2,622 licensed beds and pushed the healthcare REIT’s 2026 capital deployment to roughly $1.9B.

The off-market deal adds meaningful scale to CareTrust’s skilled nursing portfolio while extending its investment activity in markets where both the REIT and its operating partner already have an established presence.

A Bigger Acquisition Platform

CareTrust sourced the portfolio off market and invested about $380M through a joint venture. The facilities sit in markets where CareTrust and the operator already have significant scale and operating experience. That familiarity lets both parties expand in established geographies instead of entering new markets.

Only a few years ago, CareTrust said a transaction this size would have defined the company. President and CEO Dave Sedgwick said CareTrust has since built the capacity to execute several large deals each year. The platform also allows CareTrust to keep pursuing smaller acquisitions alongside those larger transactions.

Senior Vice President of Investments Joe Callan called the purchase a large, high-quality portfolio sourced through an off-market process. He said the deal reflects the type of transaction CareTrust built its platform to handle. Chief Investment Officer James Callister added that skilled nursing investment activity remains robust across CareTrust’s three primary investment channels.

The Details

The properties are triple-net leased to an existing CareTrust operator under a long-term agreement. The lease includes annual inflation-based rent escalators and multiple renewal options, while the operator remains responsible for property-level expenses and operations. CareTrust expects the portfolio to generate a stabilized yield of about 8.6%.

CareTrust funded the transaction with cash on hand and proceeds from settled equity forward contracts. The REIT still has $439M of expected net proceeds from unsettled forwards, $612M of remaining capacity under its at-the-market equity program, and $725M available on its revolving credit facility.

The acquisition brings third-quarter investment volume to about $710M. For 2026 through the transaction, CareTrust has deployed around $1.9B across roughly two dozen investments at a blended stabilized yield of 8.7%. That investment volume already exceeds the company’s previous full-year deployment record.

Why It Matters

The deal shows how aggressively CareTrust is scaling its healthcare real estate investment program. A $400M transaction that might once have represented a defining acquisition now sits within a broader strategy designed to support multiple portfolio-scale investments each year alongside smaller property purchases.

Skilled nursing remains a core growth channel, alongside senior housing operating assets and other healthcare real estate. Expanding in existing markets also allows CareTrust to build around operators and properties it already knows rather than taking on the additional execution risk of unfamiliar geographies. That approach aligns with a broader senior housing investment expansion that has kept healthcare assets active for institutional capital.

The quarter’s pace is also notable because the Southwest transaction follows a small UK care-home acquisition completed in mid-August. Together, the investments bring third-quarter deployment to about $710M and show how CareTrust is combining major portfolio transactions with smaller acquisitions across its platform.

What’s Next

CareTrust said it has about $600M of near-term actionable opportunities after closing the Southwest portfolio. Roughly half of that pipeline would be allocated to its senior housing operating portfolio, or SHOP, platform, adding another potential source of growth beyond traditional net-leased acquisitions.

That $600M does not include several larger portfolio transactions the company is actively pursuing. Those opportunities could extend acquisition activity into 2027 as CareTrust continues looking for skilled nursing, senior housing, and other healthcare real estate investments.

CareTrust’s remaining liquidity gives it several funding channels for that pipeline. In addition to expected forward-equity proceeds, the company retains substantial capacity under its at-the-market program and revolving credit facility, giving it flexibility to pursue both the near-term pipeline and larger portfolios currently under review.