Welltower (NYSE: WELL) is planning for more U.K. growth amid a historic period of investment activity for the real estate investment trust.

Reuben Brothers, a real estate company based in the United Kingdom is investing in an ownership stake in U.K. operator Avery Healthcare, one of Welltower’s largest operating partners. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Avery’s homes offer a range of care levels, with more than 20 offering nursing care, according to the company’s website. Independent living, supported retirement living, respite, dementia and residential living are also offered by Avery.

Under the transaction, Reuben Brothers is partnering with Welltower on a RIDEA JV development program that the REIT expects to “generate significant future growth opportunities through the development of the next generation of senior housing properties in the UK.”

Avery Healthcare currently has five properties in Welltower’s senior housing operating (SHO) portfolio along with 56 triple-net properties, amounting to 16% of Welltower’s senior housing triple-net net operating income. The two companies started their partnership together in 2013 with the sale/leaseback of 13 properties.

Welltower’s existing triple-net arrangement with Avery is remaining unchanged under the transaction and new JV.

With interests in private equity, venture capital and infrastructure and a track record of investing in alternative real estate classes, Reuben Brothers’ new “beachhead investment” is poised to see “strong secular tailwinds” in the coming decades, with a multi-year growth opportunity in both the U.S. and the U.K., according to Welltower.

“While many investors appropriately remain on the sidelines due to a near-term focus on Covid-19, the exponential multi-decade growth of the senior population has begun after a period of anemic population growth during the last decade,” Welltower CEO and CIO Shankh Mitra said. “The entry of Reuben Brothers, a highly sophisticated global investor, into senior housing, highlights the attractiveness of the opportunity that is ahead of us.”

In 2021, Welltower substantially reduced its U.S. skilled nursing portfolio by essentially exiting its relationship with Genesis Healthcare, in transactions totaling $880 million in value.