12/03/25

Green Street News s'est entretenu avec Maxime Clemenceau et Frédéric Delleaux, associés fondateurs de LIFENTO, pour connaître leur point de vue sur le secteur de la santé.

Un article en anglais

"There are fewer opportunities in France than other countries"

by Francesco Magon

 

Founding partners of French healthcare firm discuss how they plan to invest their €250m value-add fund.

March is a crucial month for French healthcare fund manager Lifento. It began with the €25m refinancing of a portfolio of three German assets of the Lifento Care Pan-European fund with Deutsche Kreditbank. This week Lifento has been discussing investment opportunities at Mipim, and then, in before the month is out, it will make its first closing for the Lifento Care European valueadd fund.

Founding partners Maxime Clémenceau and Frédéric Delleaux spoke to Green Street News about their views on the healthcare sector, which, although still an alternative asset class, is increasingly under the microscope of intentional investors.

 

Why is the €25m refinancing of three German assets strategic for your company?
Frédéric Delleaux (FD): “This €25m refinancing aligns with the Lifento Care pan-European fund’s strategy to strengthen its healthcare real estate portfolio while optimising financial management. Finalised on 21 February with Deutsche Kreditbank, it covers three assets in Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Saarland, which are key regions for medical infrastructure. These facilities play a crucial role in meeting the growing demand for modern healthcare services. This refinancing is a key step in Lifento’s proactive asset management approach, enhancing financial flexibility to support future growth while ensuring the long-term sustainability of its healthcare portfolio."

“This refinancing is a key step in Lifento’s proactive asset management approach, enhancing financial flexibility to support future growth while ensuring the long-term sustainability of its healthcare portfolio”
FRÉDÉRIC DELLEAUX, LIFENTO 

Why was October 2024 a good moment to launch the fund?
Maxime Clémenceau (MC): “The strategy of Lifento Care value-add is to offer investors the opportunity to invest in healthcare facilities that have potential for value creation.

For example, buildings in need of major renovation in terms of energy and patient services. Secondly, buildings that need to be extended to accommodate an increased number of beds. And thirdly, buildings where Lifento wants to change the operator within a particular asset.

The healthcare sector is acyclical. In other words, it responds to the core or core-plus investment pattern. Over the last two years, we’ve seen a change in the macroeconomy and in investment return expectations, which has favoured value-add operations. That’s why we decided to launch it for 2025."

What are the next milestones for the fund?
FD: “We’re aiming to manage between €200m and €250m in total. We’re trying to raise at least €100m from investors via the fund raising. To this we need to add a 60% LTV from banks – private debt providers are too demanding in terms of interest rate.

The fundraising began late 2024 and the first closing will take place at the end mid-2025. There will then be one closing at the end of each trimester. The fundraising period runs until the end of H1 2026. The investment period will last 24 months, from the end of June 2025 to the end of June 2027.

And the duration of the fund is five years plus two years. At the end of the five years, the first disposals will begin, with the possibility of holding the assets for a two additional years. The fund targets a net IRR of 15% over 5 years for investors.

It is important to note that the Lifento Care value-ad fund completes Lifento’s business range. Lifento currently offers core and core-plus funds, so it was appropriate to launch a value-add product now."

Are you going to buy only healthcare buildings or other buildings for conversion?
MC: "Converting to healthcare property is rather difficult. In the past, there have been cases where traditional châteaux have been converted into retirement homes or clinics. But today’s medical needs have changed radically, and we’re no longer dealing with the same issues as ten years ago. So conversion is not Lifento’s main focus.

Even converting offices or hotels into healthcare buildings is almost impossible. We want to work on assets that already have a medical purpose and improve their performance."

What type of healthcare property will you be buying?
MC: “We will be focusing in particular on care homes and clinics of all types: surgical, obstetrical, nephrological and psychiatric.
In terms of value, we’re aiming for investments averaging €15m each, so investments ranging from around €10m to €30m.

We aim to buy on our own or, for deals over €25m, we may also be involved in co-investments where we will be a majority shareholder – which is what we prefer – or a minority shareholder. In terms of geography, our target countries are Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain,
the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands. France is not a target country."

Why is France not a target country?
MC: “France has not been repriced. Healthcare real estate is currently much more expensive in France than in Germany. I wouldn’t rule out investing in France, but there are fewer opportunities in France than in other countries.

Belgium is also slowing down, but there are more opportunities there than in France.

On the other hand, the UK, Germany and Italy are countries where there are considerable value-added opportunities. There have been major takeovers in these countries.

We’re looking closely at opportunities in the UK and Ireland, where we’ve never invested before. This would be our first acquisition across the English Channel."

“We’re looking closely at opportunities in the UK and Ireland, where we’ve never invested before. This would be our first acquisition across the English Channel”
MAXIME CLÉMENCEAU, LIFENTO

Are you looking to recruit specific talent to manage the fund? And for other wider functions?
MC: “Yes, we’re aiming to reinforce our current team with three senior profiles by Mipim 2026.

We currently have two asset managers: one for Northern Europe and the other for Southern Europe. The aim is to double the asset management team with two new people.

Then also we want to take on an ESG manager. Working on the energy performance of buildings is a prerogative that is of interest to all the assets in our portfolio."

In which markets and asset classes are you seeking to expand? And in which geographies?
FD: "At the moment we only have one office in Paris, but Lifento is expanding rapidly in Italy, Germany and Portugal. So when we have more than €120m-€150m of portfolio in a country, we’ll consider setting up a second office there."

What is your view on the European healthcare and senior living real estate market?
FD: "Since the start of the crisis, the healthcare market has proved fairly resilient. Some countries are holding up well, such as Portugal, Spain and Italy. The countries that recovered the least were France and Germany, which remains a big question mark.

Over the last 24 months, healthcare properties have lost between 5-10% of their value. In the office sector, particularly in certain areas such as La Défense, they have lost up to 50%.

2024 was a weak year in terms of healthcare transactions. 2025 will be a year of stabilisation or slight growth. Over the long term, I remain positive because major investors have an obligation to diversify, and healthcare is a response to this need.

Finally, it’s a sector based on demographics, rather like student accommodation. We’re looking for something stable in terms of rental income, so healthcare assets are an interesting option because the demographic figures are on our side."