AMP Capital Investors and property developer Meridien are setting up a $1 billion retirement asset and management joint venture.
The AMP Capital Meridien Lifestyle joint venture comprises 19 retirement villages and will be the second largest retirement village operator in the country.
"Our research has identified that it is an investment sector that is likely to deliver attractive long-term returns," AMP Capital Investors head of property funds management Andrew Bennett said.
"We are seeing rapid consolidation and the joint venture with Meridien will enable us to become a significant owner and manager in the rapidly growing retirement sector in Australia."
Based in Brisbane, AMP Capital Meridien Lifestyle will comprise retirement village properties across Australia underpinned by the NSW-based Glen Group portfolio, purchased late in 2006.
"The retirement sector was firmly on our radar because it's been a somewhat fragmented industry in the past," Meridien executive chairman David Roberts said.
In 2001, 2.3 million Australians were aged over 65 with this figure projected to almost double to 4.5 million by 2021.
Currently only 3 per cent of Australians live in retirement villages compared with 10 per cent in the USA.
AMP Capital Investors, a wholly owned subsidiary of AMP Limited, is a specialist investment manager.
Meridien is a privately owned Queensland-based property company.
