Warwickshire council care homes taken on by Runwood Homes
Eight Warwickshire residential care homes are to be transferred to a private company under a deal agreed with the county council.
Essex-based Runwood Homes will take over the homes and said it would invest almost £3m to improve facilities.
The county council said the deal, which is expected to be completed in October, would secure the future of the homes.
Current staff are due to transfer to the company under terms designed to safeguard contracts, the council said.
The homes include Bracebridge Court in Atherstone, Caldwell Grange in Nuneaton, Four Acres in Studley, Low Furlong in Shipston-on-Stour, Lower Meadow in Stratford-upon-Avon, Orchard Blythe in Coleshill, Park View in Warwick and The Lawns in Leamington.
Gordon Sanders, Chief Executive of Runwood Homes, said the company would modernise the facilities and increase the number of beds.
Councillor Izzy Seccombe said the Conservative-led local authority could not afford to invest long-term in the properties.
She said the council's costs of running the homes would be reinvested in other forms of care.
It would also free up money to build new Extra Care housing, to support older people to stay in their own homes longer, she added.