Overseas Private Equity Firms & 'Farming the Kiwi Oldies'

NZ Arvida gets 'assimilated'. We are witnessing the largest land-grab and wealth transfer in history: hidden in plain sight.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a short article about my concerns about the enormous expansion of ‘Retirement Villages’ here in New Zealand. The term ‘village’ is deliberately misleading, as I explained in some detail, with some depressing evidence:

I concluded that these retirement villages institutions in NZ, like those overseas, are a global fraud. The propaganda of ‘quality care’ for the older generation contrasts starkly with the reality of this sector’s low-skilled, transient workforce, exploitative financial contracts and frankly disgusting, low-budget ‘meals’. As I’ve explained before here, NZ does not benefit from protective regulators in these fields, or even adequate litigation routes. Inevitably, older people and their families who may be taken-in by the clever marketing campaigns, can end up in complex and frustrating situations, with little hope of resolution. The strategic promotion of this policy is a tragedy for individuals and society as a whole, and contributes to the breakdown of community cohesion.

As if to reinforce the point I wanted to make, this week, finance media announced one of the NZ ‘Big Five’ firms that own hundreds of these institutions, Arvida (mentioned in the above article) has been brought-out by US private equity company, Stonepeak. Stonepeak say of the acquisition:

"With its established portfolio, attractive development pipeline, and long-term demand tailwinds ... Arvida represents a compelling investment opportunity for our Asia infrastructure strategy," said Stonepeak senior managing director Darren Keogh, adding New Zealand's ageing population made the firm attractive.

Yes, a compelling investment opportunity. Indeed.

The purchase cost Stonepeak NZ$1.24 Billion (exc debt) sending Arvida’s share price up nearly 60% - the highest in more than two years. Someone made a profit!

You won’t be surprised to learn that Stonepeak (according to Wikipedia at least) is the 6th largest infrastructure investment firm worldwide, based on totals from the last five-years. Note that Stonepeak is another ‘spin-off’ property investor from massive Blackstone, which of course is from GloboCaps Lehman Bros legacy. Coincidentally, Blackstone is also, as

Deconstructing 4IR Narratives

pointed out recently on a TNT interview, the largest landlord in the US. Expansion into the lucrative NZ retirement home financial equity sector could be extremely valuable then, for the slowly-boiling frog progress of Agenda 2030 like Managed Retreat? Here’s a screenshot of Stonepeak’s website to give you the idea:

And you can get the gist of the SDH/ESG impact investor’s goals from this example from their annual report which uses all the usual nauseating NetZero jargon:

I often wondered why all the over-priced, over-staffed, poorly-maintained Kiwi cafes survived these damp Winter months. Especially when the food they sell is often mass-produced and lacking in nutrients and flavour. Now I see it more clearly - institutions like Arvida run regular mini-buses to the ‘outside world’ for their ‘clients’. Lucky them.

“Caught-up in the boring, unappetising menu at Arvida’s dining hall? No worries, you can briefly escape (at additional cost, of course) to a ‘real’ cafe for lunch with your fellow residents prisoners!”

These local cafe owners are probably very pleased to get this kind of booking, and maybe there’s even a kick-back as a result? All this transportation, infrastructure development and property sales (or rather ‘Right to Occupy’) allows the NZ economy to appear to be flourishing (God I hate that word). The public may have the illusion of prosperity, freedom and choice, but isn’t this exploitation just another word for money-laundering?

Photo by kayleigh harrington on Unsplash.

All these extensive financial transfers are valuable KPIs for Impact Investors. PPPPs and private equity firms spin a complex shareholding web of ownership over these institutions. Government funds from taxpayers seem to some a never-ending ‘river of gold’….

But will the inherent debt ever be acknowledged? How long does this illusion based on delusion, continue?