King & Wood Mallesons has advised aged care provider, Estia Health on the acquisition of Kennedy Health Care Group.

Kennedy Health Care Group comprises 8 facilities and 959 aged care beds. The acquisition will take Estia’s number of beds to 5,690 across 66 facilities by the end of 2016.

The deal will be funded through a combination of existing debt and the issue of approximately $50 million in Estia shares. The stock component represents a total of 6.3 million shares at $7.54 per share which will be issued to the Kennedy family.

The KWM team was led by partner Jason Watts, supported by solicitor Jennifer Cheung. Partner Yuen-Yee Cho advised on the financing side of the deal with partner Chris Wheeler advising on property and regulatory matters and partner Tim Sherman providing tax advice.

KWM previously advised Quadrant Private Equity on its investment in Estia in 2013. The firm later advised Estia on its IPO in November 2014.

Commenting on the deal, partner Jason Watts said, “We are delighted to have been able to support Estia on their latest acquisition. The acquisition of a quality medium sized aged care group is an important part of Estia’s long-term acquisition strategy in a sector that continues to undergo consolidation.”