Care Investment Trust Sinks $72M in Medical Office Portfolio

New York City-based Care Investment Trust Inc. has paid $72.4 million for an 85 percent equity interest in limited liability entities owning nine medical office buildings valued at $263 million. The seller was Cambridge Holdings Incorporated, a Dallas-based developer, owner, and manager of healthcare facilities.Care acquired the equity interests through a downREIT operating partnership subsidiary. The purchase price consisted of 700,000 operating partnership units worth $10.5 million and $61.9 million in cash. The term downREIT describes a joint venture between a REIT and a property owner, whose assets are held separately from other assets in the REIT. As a result, the performance of the REIT does not track with the downREIT or joint venture. As part of the transaction, Cambridge granted Care options to purchase interests in six medical office facilities valued at $232 million under development by Cambridge or in the Cambridge pipeline. The nine properties encompass 767,600 square feet of space located in metropolitan markets in Texas, where there are eight, and Louisiana, where there is one. The properties include medical office buildings, specialty surgical hospitals, ambulatory surgery suites, radiation therapy and other diagnostic, treatment, and imaging capabilities. Barely six months old, Care carried out an initial public offering in June of 2007 and raised approximately $209.8 million. The Cambridge transaction announced today is the company’s first equity investment. Care is externally managed and advised by CIT Healthcare LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of CIT Group Inc. CIT Healthcare is a finance company focused on the healthcare industry. CIT Group is a general commercial and consumer finance company.