Brookdale Senior Living - Mergers

Mergers

By the time the management agreement with Emeritus was about to expire, the remaining Alterra portfolio was thriving due to an aggressive push by corporate and divisional leaders to prove the company was not "dead". Fortress put together a merger that would bring their Brookdale portfolio together with the rising Alterra portfolio. This was approved and completed in early 2005, bringing the Brookdale property total to 390 properties. From late 2005 to early 2007, Fortress and Brookdale took advantage of a strong market and an abundance in company cash reserves to acquire several smaller senior living organizations within the United States. These included acquisition of Southern Assisted Living in Chapel Hill, North Carolina in April 2006 for $82.6M. Southern Assisted Living was a privately held company that managed approximately 45 properties in the Carolinas. Simultaneously, the acquisitions of several smaller companies including Liberty Senior Services, Wellington Senior Living, and Southland properties brought Brookdale into the second spot on the leading providers list for senior care in the US right behind Sunrise.

In July 2006, Brookdale announced its merger with the Nashville, Tennessee based American Retirement Corporation (ARC). ARC operated approximately 130 properties throughout the United States ranging from large CCRC campuses to assisted living and independent living facilities. They had been operating since the late 1970s. Fortress saw this as an opportunity to put Brookdale at the forefront of senior living, not just by sheer size but with the marrying of two of the longest-running and most successful companies in the industry. When the dust settled on the ARC merger, Brookdale was operating approximately 550 communities in 36 states.

There would be no more acquisitions announced until October 2009 when the Wall Street Journal reported that Brookdale Senior Living had entered into an agreement with Sunrise Senior Living Services to acquire 21 free standing properties throughout the United States. The closing date for this acquisition was announced to be November 25, 2009.