Hemsö, the Swedish investor in public use real estate, is looking for more investment targets, says the company's Country Manager in Finland Jarkko Leinonen.

Speaking to Finnish economy daily Kauppalehti, Leinonen notes that the company builds three to six schools each year in Sweden. "We are looking for more targets, where we build for our own, long-term use," Leinonen notes. 

Hemsö's business is based on owning, managing and developing properties for nursing homes, education, care facilities and premises for the legal sector. The company currently owns 362 properties for public use in Sweden, Germany and Finland, which have a combined market value of SEK 51.6bn (EUR 4.8bn).

Hemsö has operated in Finland for six years. In the past few years, the company has nearly tripled its investments in Finland. Whereas in 2017, the asset volume of its property portfolio in Finland was EUR340m, it today stands at approximately EUR920m, making the Swedish company the biggest foreign real estate investor in Finland.

This month, Hemsö and the City of Oulu have signed a lease for the construction of two new fire stations in Oulu. The total investment amounts to approximately EUR 25m. Last December, Hemsö purchased the Helsinki Court House for EUR200m, and also owns the real estate where some 30 nursing homes are run by Attendo, Esperi Care and Mehiläinen.

Leinonen says to Kauppalehti, that the problems that surfaces in the quality of care at Attendo's and Esperi Care's nursing homes earlier this year, have been discussed with the company's owner, the Swedish buffer fund AP3.

Earlier this year, both chains were found to have neglected, in some of their care homes, the care for their aged and disabled residents. "Now as Hemsö is in Finland, its owner wants to know how things here are. We have discussed the issue. There is demand for safe nursing homes for groups with special needs," he formulates to Kauppalehti.

Ilmarinen threatens to pull out of scandal-struck nursing home

Finnish nursing home scandal deals blow to Attendo shares

FIM Asset Management bans buying scandal-hit Attendo equities