Louisville-based Signature Healthcare has acquired 10 nursing center operations in Ohio, North Carolina, Georgia and Virgina.

Virginia is a new territory for the company, but it had existing operations in the other states. The new facilities are in the process of being rebranded as Signature facilities. The transition began after Signature took ownership on Aug. 1.

The facilities previously were operated by Brentwood, Tenn.-based Vanguard Healthcare Services Inc. They all were added as a part of the same deal.

Signature is leasing the nursing centers, and did not buy the real estate. The buildings are owned by Chicago-based Ventas Inc. Vanguard gave up its lease, and Ventas selected Signature for a 10-year operations lease agreement. Signature plans to invest an average of nearly $1 million in renovations per facility.

There will be additional investments in the form of staffing and programming. The transaction adds about 1,200 employees. The company has close to 20,000 employees om total.