CMA Proposes to Accept Remedies in Welltower Care Home Deal

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is proposing to accept remedies offered following its investigation into Welltower’s purchase of more than 600 care homes across the UK.

Welltower is a US-based real estate investment trust, which, in October 2025 became the owner of 4 portfolios of care home properties previously owned and operated by Barchester Healthcare, HC-One, Aria Care (including Asprey) and Danforth Care. As part of the transaction, new operators (including Care UK and Apex Healthcare Properties via Barchester Healthcare) took over the management of the day-to-day operations of the care homes.

A phase 1 investigation by the CMA found that the deals could give rise to competition concerns in the supply of nursing and/or residential care services for the elderly in a total of 30 local areas across England and Scotland.

In those local areas, the CMA found that either Welltower or one of the care home operators would have a significant proportion of the care homes in the area. The CMA was concerned the deals could potentially lead to higher prices or a reduction in service quality for care home residents in these areas.

To resolve the CMA’s concerns, Welltower has offered the following in the areas of concern identified by the investigation:

• To sell its ownership of a number of care home properties and
• For certain other care homes, reallocate the operations to a new operator.

Having considered this proposal, the CMA said believes it could resolve its competition concerns and will consult on the remedies package and the potential purchaser(s) in due course.

Sorcha O’Carroll, Senior Director of Mergers at the CMA, said: “It’s crucial that older people and their families choosing care homes get the best care available at a reasonable price. Effective competition amongst providers can help boost choice, improve quality and keep costs down, all of which are important factors for making sure people are properly looked after.

“We had concerns that Welltower’s deal to purchase over 600 sites could create competition issues in several local areas across England and Scotland. Having engaged closely with the businesses, we believe Welltower has a solution that could resolve those concerns, allowing us to clear the deal and maintain competition at the same time.”

Matthew Woodford, Partner and Head of Competition at Browne Jocobson, said: “While the regulator has signalled that concerns may be capable of being resolved through targeted structural remedies, the investigation has raised questions for how consolidation in the care sector will be assessed going forward.

“What is particularly significant is the CMA’s focus on the relationship between ownership, operational influence and local competition with investors and landlords needing to think about how their commercial arrangements may affect resident choice, pricing and quality of care.”

Vicky Tomlinson, Partner and corporate health lead at Browne Jacobson, said: “The CMA’s proposed acceptance of remedies represents an important development in one of the most closely watched healthcare transactions in recent years.

“For investors and providers, the message is that regulatory scrutiny in healthcare transactions is becoming more sophisticated, particularly in sectors delivering essential public-facing services.

“It will also be interesting to see how many homes ultimately come to market as part of the remedies process and whether this creates additional acquisition opportunities for regional operators and new entrants into the sector.

“We expect this case to shape how future transactions are structured and how due diligence is carried out and assessed across the independent health and social care market, especially where there are complex ownership models, operational partnerships or significant local market overlap.

“The CMA will now consult on the proposed remedies before making a final decision on whether to accept them and conclude the investigation without referring the matter to a phase two inquiry.”