Nationwide Health Properties Seeks $100 Million in Notes : Investments: Proposed medium-term issuance would help the Newport Beach real estate trust with future acquisitions.

Nationwide Health Properties Inc., a real estate investment trust based in Newport Beach, said Tuesday that it is seeking federal approval to raise as much as $100 million in medium-term notes.

The money raised through issuance of the notes would be put on shelf registration, allowing the company to issue the notes in $5-million increments as needed, Chief Executive R. Bruce Andrews said.

Andrews said that the company, which has been aggressively purchasing health facilities, could use the money for future acquisitions as well as for general corporate purposes. Merrill Lynch will market the notes.

“Basically, we are trying to arm ourselves with the whole arsenal of financing available to make the best deals that might come in,” Andrews said.

Interest on the notes would range from 4% to about 8%, depending on the going rate and the maturity. Maturity dates on the notes would range from nine months to 12 years.

Andrews said that Nationwide Health Properties, which recently raised $81 million to buy 45 convalescent homes, is looking into a $35-million deal that might be financed with debt accrued through the notes. He would not give details about the potential acquisition.

He said the company, however, is able to absorb the additional debt. Because the notes are in a shelf registration, they can be issued in staggered amounts, allowing the net effect on balance sheets to be spread out.

At least one analyst agrees that Nationwide Health Properties will benefit from the additional debt load.

Catherine C. Creswell, an analyst with Alex Brown & Sons in Baltimore, said the company’s debt load is now equal to about 38% of its total assets. Even with the prospect of taking on more debt, Creswell said, the company will remain more conservative than its competitors.

“I don’t think there’s anything negative about it whatsoever,” Creswell said of the notes arrangement. “Quite frankly, there are a lot of companies that are more leveraged than Nationwide. I think Bruce still wants to remain more conservative.”

In Tuesday’s trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Nationwide Health Properties closed at $30.25 a share, up 12 cents.