What 10 Years Can Do
With everyone so fixated on the future (the upcoming flu season, the 2026 Boomer Boom, etc…), and rightfully so, we also think it’s important to peak back in the past to gain some perspective. A #flashbackfriday, if you will. November 2008 doesn’t conjure many fond memories for most industries, but particularly for the capital markets. By that month, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped below 8,000 (on its way to 6,443 in March 2009). Liquidity had dried up, and investors, more often than not, were looking to sell, not buy (even if some of those buys would have paid off many times over in hindsight). And when those selling shareholders had a target in mind, they went for blood, selling... Read More »
The Gold Standard A Bit Tarnished
A scathing article from The Washington Post discloses quality problems at HCR ManorCare before its sale to Welltower and ProMedica Health System. For those of you who missed the Thanksgiving weekend article from the Washington Post about poor care at HCR ManorCare’s nursing facilities in Pennsylvania, well, why ruin a great weekend? All kidding aside, it did not portray HCR ManorCare in a very good light, citing numerous cases of poor care and lack of staffing. But I am not sure if they were attacking HCR ManorCare itself, or The Carlyle Group, which owned the company at the time and did the $6 billion sale/leaseback which financially strangled them. Granted, most of the events cited in... Read More »What Happened To Assisted Living Prices?
The results are in for our rolling four-quarter averages for assisted living, independent living and skilled nursing sales, and they may surprise you. Assisted living prices, on average, dropped 15% to just $177,600 per unit for the four quarters ended September 30, 2018. That follows six straight quarters with an average price above $208,000 per unit for the sector and represents the lowest level since the second quarter of 2014, when we recorded an average of $162,000 per unit. What happened to the assisted living sector, which has so far seen record levels of M&A activity? In the last 12 months, there not only have been a lower number of very high-priced deals (above $300,000 per... Read More »
Five Star Not Shining
Hindsight is usually 20-20, and in the case of Five Star Senior Living, looking back two years, the company should have accepted the offer from Gemini Properties and the Thomas brothers of Senior Star, who offered to pay $325 million for 33 owned Five Star communities. They had already accumulated more than 6% of the company’s stock, an investment they most likely regret. But management, and really the then-controlling shareholder, the late Barry Portnoy, wanted nothing of it. In fact, Mr. Portnoy announced a tender offer to buy 10 million shares of Five Star at $3.00 per share to enhance his controlling position. That’s an investment where his estate would like a re-do. The Gemini/Senior... Read More »
