International law firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner’s Healthcare team have advised listed Belgian healthcare investor Aedifica on the acquisition of a portfolio of 93 care home properties across England for approximately £450m from Lonestar. This marks Aedifica’s entry into the UK market, making it the fourth country in its portfolio.

Stefaan Gielens, CEO of Aedifica, commented: “The United Kingdom provides an attractive investment opportunity for Aedifica, since the healthcare market is still very fragmented and the ageing population leads to increasing demand for care assets.”

M&A and Corporate Finance Partner Michael Anderson, who led the transaction, commented: “This significant healthcare deal cements BCLP as the leading law firm in the UK in this sector.”

The BCLP team consisted of Michael Anderson, Tom Bacon and Xin Fan (M&A and Corporate Finance), Matt Peel, Harry Blathwayt and Sarah Cowen (Real Estate), Matt Poole, Victoria Wolf and Ceinwen Hayes (Tax Advice & Controversy), Kyle Johnson (Banking), Jeremy Bark (Regulatory) Louis Wihl (Commercial and Technology), Paul Grace and Michael Dempsey (Planning) and a large pan UK real estate due diligence team. In total over 60 BCLP lawyers were involved.

Other buy side legal advisers included Burness Paull and Mourants.

Closing will take place subject to certain conditions being satisfied on 31 January.