HealthCo REIT's 50% Discount Hinges on a Healthscope Re-Tenanting Deal

Fund managers say a receiver-led sale of Healthscope's hospital operations is the key catalyst to close a persistent NTA discount

2 Jul 2026 · 3 min read

A landlord to one of Australia's largest private hospital operators, HealthCo Healthcare and Wellness REIT has traded at as much as a 50 per cent discount to net tangible assets for the better part of a year, as fund managers wait for a receiver-led sale of tenant Healthscope to remove the overhang on the stock.

A discount built on tenant uncertainty

Blackwattle Investment Partners described the setup plainly in November 2025: Healthscope's private equity owners had over-geared the operating business, pushing it into receivership for most of 2025 and leaving HealthCo's share price under pressure amid uncertainty over the tenant's viability and future ownership. Blackwattle saw the resulting discount to NTA as an opportunity rather than a warning sign, pointing to a significant number of parties, particularly not-for-profit operators with a structural cost advantage, looking to buy the operating business, alongside federal government efforts to improve the funding structure for private hospitals as an essential service.

Phoenix Growth Fund was building a position over the same period, rotating out of Charter Hall and into discounted REIT names including HealthCo, which it said was trading well below its net tangible asset value with strong catalysts expected during the year to close that discount.

The Healthco REIT has traded up to a 50% discount to NTA which we have seen as a fantastic opportunity to invest. There are a significant number of parties looking to purchase the operating business, particularly not-for-profit operators that have a structural cost advantage. HCW's share price declined in December as the market awaits completion of the receiver-led sales process. We expect HCW to be in a position to announce its new tenants in coming weeks, a key catalyst.

— Blackwattle Investment Partners, Monthly Report, December 2025

A rally, a retreat, and a re-tenanting catalyst still to come

HealthCo's share price rallied in November 2025 as the receiver-led sale process neared completion, with final bids received and press reports that Healthscope's other major landlord was entering binding agreements for a new tenant. Blackwattle called out meaningful upside once the Healthscope portfolio was sold and the rent income uncertainty removed. Shares gave some of that back in December as the market continued waiting on completion.

By July 2026, Seneca Financial Solutions was still framing the trade around the same catalyst: if a deal re-tenants Healthscope's hospitals to a new operator, the REIT's dividend should be reinstated, at which point the 50 per cent discount to NTA becomes harder to justify. Seneca sees potential for a 50 per cent-plus re-rate and a special dividend, with the risk mitigated by Healthscope's continued rent payments in full and on time.