This week, we can’t not talk about Brookdale Senior Living reportedly exploring a sale of the company and engaging with advisers to find potential buyers, and the rumors are flying. Will Healthpeak Properties, now under the helm of Welltower alumnus Scott Brinker, reenter the seniors housing market in the big way by buying Brookdale? Or will Ventas, with its size and its warrants to buy 16.3 million shares at about $3 per share, be the buyer? Or will a PE firm take the company private and continue the long road to recovery without an eye towards quarterly earnings reports.
There is also the question of whether Brookdale CEO Cindy Baier will stay on in her role after more than four years as CEO. We know that Healthpeak’s former CEO Tom Herzog is out of a job and is pursuing other endeavors. Brookdale would be an interesting move for him after spending the last several years getting PEAK out of the seniors housing business, it seems like a real possibility.
Brookdale’s share price spiked by more than 30% on the news and has consistently hovered around 20% above its recent 52-week low of $3.87 per share since then. But coming from such a low, the increase does not mean much, especially when you consider Brookdale walked away from a conditional indication of interest to buy the company four years ago for between $9 and $11 a share. That deal was never a sure thing, but we don’t think Brookdale would get an offer even close to that now. And a deal now is not a sure thing, but we and the industry will certainly follow it with great interest.
