Chartwell and Health Care REIT acquire Maestro portfolio for US$931 million

Chartwell Seniors Housing REIT and Health Care REIT, Inc. completed the acquisition, through a joint venture among their subsidiaries, from the five Maestro Retirement Residences Funds of a portfolio of 8187 suites in 42 retirement residences in key Canadian growth markets for a net purchase price of approximately $931 million. The properties are located in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. The transaction received the approvals of both the Competition Bureau and Investment Canada. The transaction is viewed as the largest real estate transaction so far in 2012. The Maestro Residences Retirement Funds were represented by Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP with a team led by Claude Gendron that included Robert Paré, Gabriel Castiglio and Philip Aubry (Corporate & Governance), Jean Philippe Gagné, Nicolas Leblanc, Elias Retsinas and Élise Béland (Montreal - Real Estate), Mark Brennan and Doug Edmison (Toronto – Real Estate), Stuart Blyth and Chelsea Bushfield (Calgary – Real Estate), David Martin (Vancouver – Real Estate), Gilles Carli (Tax), Doug New and Juho Song (Competition and Investment Canada), Louise Béchamp (Labour), Jean-Philippe Mikus and Charles Lupien (Intellectual Property). Luc Chagnon acted as in-house counsel.