BRENTWOOD, TENN. — Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE: BKD), an owner-operator based in the Nashville area, has entered into agreements to acquire three seniors housing portfolios totaling 41 properties and 2,789 units. The combined purchase price is $610 million. Brookdale currently leases and operates the properties on triple-net bases. In explaining the move, company officials noted that by taking ownership of these communities, Brookdale will gain portfolio management flexibility that is not present in a leased structure, providing additional opportunities to further enhance shareholder value. “The immediate and long-term benefits of these real estate transactions are wide-ranging,” says Cindy Baier, Brookdale’s president and CEO. “They include future portfolio flexibility that comes through asset ownership, the opportunity to fully realize the long-term benefits of the powerful senior housing outlook and, following closing, the expected immediate improvement in adjusted free cash flow from a lower-cost capital structure.” In the first transaction, Brookdale agreed to buy 11 properties totaling 1,228 units from a joint venture led by Ohio-based REIT Welltower Inc. (NYSE: WELL) for $300 million. The properties are largely concentrated in West Coast markets, and the portfolio comprises 470 independent living units, 723 assisted living units and 36 memory care units with a …
