Fund to help aging population

A €250 million healthcare investment fund was launched by a Cork based financial firm this week in a bid to meet the demands of the country’s increasing older population.

The BlackBee Group’s fund will see the creation of Ireland’s largest residential care group and aims to raise €250m to invest in the acquisition and development of state-of-the-art care homes, with the money being targeted from both institutional and professional private investors.

Ireland’s population currently has 637,000 over 65s and 67,000 over 85s. By 2040 it is estimated that this will increase to a staggering 1.2 million over 65s and 216,000 over 85s.

The country has a current supply of about 30,000 residential beds but by 2040 the demand will need to increase to approximately 59,000.

The investment will initially see the construction of 1,000 new state of the art single ensuite beds and the acquisition of 750 existing beds operating under a new brand, Aperee.

More than 1,500 new jobs will be created, 1,000 existing jobs will be sustained and a further 800 will be supported, under these plans, during construction, which is set to commence in early 2020.

A number of target sites and existing homes have already been identified and Aperee expects to acquire two to three homes before the end of 2019.

The operational arm of the fund, Aperee, will be led by CEO Paul Kingston, who has over 22 years’ experience in the residential care sector.

He said: “I am delighted to join such a dynamic team as BlackBee, and we will work together to ensure we deliver exceptional standards of facilities and most importantly care to those who deserve to receive the best of everything. I am also delighted that Alf Smiddy has decided to join as chairperson of the board of Aperee and assist myself and the senior management team on this journey.”

The BlackBee Healthcare fund is due to open in September.