High-end seniors housing provider, Amica Senior Lifestyles, is set for new ownership. Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has agreed to sell the portfolio of 38 properties to the U.S.-based real estate investment trust, Welltower Inc., for CAD $4.6 billion.

The deal also includes a long-term partnership agreement that will see Amica’s existing management team continue to oversee portfolio operations, as the residences get enfolded into Welltower’s larger holding of interests in seniors housing, medical office and health care facilities throughout Canada, the United States and United Kingdom. A statement from the REIT confirms the purchase price “represents a substantial discount to estimated replacement cost” of the Amica residences, which are located in Ontario and British Columbia. The new partnership is now targeting expansion in affluent neighbourhoods of Toronto, Vancouver and Victoria.

“Against a backdrop of rapidly growing demand and limited new supply, we expect the portfolio to drive outsized revenue and cash flow growth in the coming years,” says Welltower’s chief executive officer, Shankh Mitra.

Ontario Teachers’ is divesting the portfolio after 15 years of ownership. The pension fund acquired Amica in 2010 and then, in tandem with its management, executed a deal to take the company private five years later. Today, the portfolio occupies what its new owners describe as an “ultra-luxury” market niche, which currently encompasses 31 income-producing residences and seven projects under development.

“For the last 15 years, Ontario Teachers’ has acted as an extension of our internal team,” says Amica’s co-founder and chief investment officer, Robert Ezer. “We are grateful for how they’ve supported our strategic ambitions, and we are now looking forward to working and partnering with the team at Welltower to help carry this growth momentum forward.”