Safanad's $1.6B HC-One Sale Fuels Pivot to Saudi Healthcare

NEW YORK, NY – February 09, 2026 – Investment firm Safanad has finalized the sale of HC-One, the United Kingdom's largest care home provider, in a landmark deal valued at over US$1.6 billion. The acquirer is the prominent US-based healthcare real estate investment trust (REIT), Welltower Inc., which has been aggressively expanding its UK portfolio.

The transaction concludes a decade-long ownership period for Safanad, during which it steered HC-One from its origins into a dominant market force. More significantly, the sale marks a strategic turning point for Safanad, which is now redirecting its capital and expertise towards the rapidly transforming healthcare landscape of Saudi Arabia and the broader Gulf region.

A Decade of Transformation

Safanad’s journey with HC-One began with the ambition to build a leading platform in the UK's fragmented care sector. The company was largely built from the assets of Southern Cross Healthcare, which collapsed in 2011. Through a disciplined 'buy and build' strategy, Safanad oversaw HC-One's growth, which included four major bolt-on acquisitions, notably the purchase of 122 homes from Bupa in 2017. This expansion cemented HC-One’s position as Britain’s largest care operator, with nearly 300 homes serving around 15,000 residents.

According to Safanad, its tenure was marked by substantial capital investment aimed at modernizing infrastructure, digitalizing operations, and ultimately improving the quality of care. “Over the past decade, we worked closely with management to strengthen HC-One’s foundation, modernize operations, and enhance the standard of care delivered to thousands of residents across the UK,” said Kamal Bahamdan, Founder and CEO of Safanad, in a statement. He called the investment “defining” for the firm.

Ziad Dannaoui, Senior Partner at Safanad, added, “Our sustained investment in HC-One’s infrastructure, digital transformation, and operational excellence has generated substantial value for all of our stakeholders.”

However, the path was not without its challenges. Operating in the complex and heavily regulated UK social care sector, HC-One has faced scrutiny. Reports from the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the independent regulator in England, have at times highlighted inconsistencies across its vast portfolio, with some individual homes requiring significant improvement. The company also reported financial losses of £6.1 million in 2022 and £63 million in 2023, underscoring the persistent financial pressures within the sector, including rising operating costs and staffing challenges.

A Bullish Market and a Dominant Buyer

The sale to Welltower comes at a time of renewed optimism and high transaction volumes in the UK healthcare real estate market. Industry analysts note that transaction volumes hit £3.2 billion in 2024 and are projected to climb, driven by strong fundamentals. The UK’s aging population—with the number of over-80s expected to double by 2050—creates a powerful, needs-driven demand for elderly care, which accounted for 68% of healthcare real estate transactions last year.

This demand has attracted significant overseas capital, particularly from US-based REITs and private equity groups, which now account for a majority of global investment flows into the UK healthcare sector. Welltower Inc. stands out as a primary example of this trend. The New York-listed REIT has been on a UK buying spree, making platform acquisitions of homes managed by major operators like Barchester, Aria Care, and Danforth Care.

The scale of this consolidation has not gone unnoticed. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched an investigation into Welltower's recent acquisitions, including the HC-One portfolio, to assess the potential impact on market competition. An enforcement order is currently in place, requiring HC-One and Welltower to operate as separate entities pending the outcome of the probe.

Safanad’s Strategic Pivot to the Gulf

With the HC-One chapter closed, Safanad is embarking on an ambitious new strategy focused on the Middle East. The firm is clear about its intention to leverage the expertise gained in mature markets like the UK to become a leader in the burgeoning healthcare ecosystem of Saudi Arabia and the wider Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.

This pivot is timed to align with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, a sweeping national blueprint for economic diversification. The Kingdom has earmarked over $65 billion for developing its healthcare infrastructure and aims for the private sector to contribute up to 65% of its national healthcare system by the end of the decade. This structural transformation is creating what Safanad sees as a significant opportunity for long-term value creation.

“We are proud of the transformation achieved and confident that HC-One is well positioned for its next chapter under new ownership, while Safanad continues to expand its global healthcare platform — with a particular focus on Saudi Arabia and the wider Gulf region,” Bahamdan stated. He noted the firm’s intent to take a “leadership role” in the region’s healthcare development, building on a track record that includes over $10 billion in executed transactions across various sectors.

Safanad is already establishing a foothold, mobilizing a regional leadership team and forging strategic partnerships to import global innovation and operational excellence. The firm's portfolio companies in the Kingdom are reportedly emerging as leaders in their verticals, with strategies in place to scale their operations in alignment with national health priorities. This strategic redeployment of capital and expertise from a successful exit in a developed market to a high-growth emerging one may well become a playbook for other global investment firms.