Marcus & Millichap

Iowa Capital Dispatch
October 21, 2024

The sale of one of Iowa’s largest nursing home chains has reportedly been completed, with 29 care facilities now in the hands of a private equity firm.

According to Skilled Nursing News, the real estate brokerage firm of Marcus & Millichap says the $85 million transaction represents the largest nursing home sale ever recorded in Iowa. The 29 facilities represent 7% of the 410 nursing homes operating in Iowa.

The sale involves the transfer of care facilities previously owned by one of Iowa’s largest employers, ABCM Corp. of Hampton, to the Chicago-based private equity firm Cascade Capital Group.

According to a statement that Marcus & Millichap provided Skilled Nursing News, the final sale price of $85 million equates to $36,000 for each of ABCM’s 2,346 skilled-nursing beds and 326 assisted living units.

In recent years, the acquisition of nursing homes by private equity investors has come under scrutiny by regulators, the media and members of Congress, with critics suggesting too many profit-minded investors target care facilities for acquisition, starve them of cash while collecting a reliable stream of income from Medicare, and then cash out.