• WOW! Sonida Senior Living Goes BIG

    Sonida Senior Living just announced what can only be described as a transformational acquisition. Since new management came in, CEO Brandon Ribar and CFO Kevin Detz, Sonida has been on an upward path of improved operations and a balance sheet that has grown stronger. Occupancy has been increasing (87.7% in Q3) and NOI and EBITDA are rising. Spot... Read More »
  • 60 Seconds with Swett: October Smashes M&A Record

    We were predicting a record-breaking end to the year in terms of M&A activity, but we are not sure we expected a 100+ deal month, with 110 transactions and counting. Just to put that in perspective, the previous record for any month was 77 deals in October of last year, and only four months had previously broken the 70-deal barrier. So this... Read More »
  • Newmark Ends October with Portfolio Closings

    Newmark announced a flurry of transactions at the end of October involving various institutional firms. The largest was a portfolio of seniors housing communities in the Northeast known as “Stars and Stripes.” Word on the street is that the portfolio sold for north of $800 million, and that a sub-portfolio was valued at more than $1 million per... Read More »
  • Stacked Stone Acquires Missouri Portfolio

    Stacked Stone Ventures announced the purchase of a seven-community assisted living/memory care portfolio in Missouri for $71 million, or $212,600 per unit. Totaling 334 units and 405 beds, the Oak Pointe portfolio was developed between 2015 and 2020 by an investor group called ClearPath Senior Housing, which included Jeff Binder of Senior Living... Read More »
  • Blueprint Sells Georgia Community to LTC Properties

    LTC Properties divested seven skilled nursing facilities through two separate deals for $122 million in October. In those transaction announcements, the publicly traded REIT noted that it intended to redeploy proceeds for the acquisition of newer, stabilized SHOP assets. It looks like that’s what the publicly traded REIT did in Georgia at the... Read More »
The Ensign Group Reports Another Solid Quarter

The Ensign Group Reports Another Solid Quarter

The Ensign Group did not disappoint yet again with its latest quarterly results. The senior care provider reported an increase in GAAP diluted earnings per share of $3.42 for 2021, an increase of 11.8% over the prior year, while adjusted EPS rose 16.3% year over year to a record-high $3.64. Consolidated GAAP revenues increased by 9.5% to $2.6 billion in 2021, with GAAP net income reaching $194.7 million for the year, an increase of 14.2% compared with 2020. Those are all healthy increases in a year of numerous operational headwinds, with large companies especially susceptible to high employee turnover and stagnant census. That is the beauty of the decentralized operating model that Ensign... Read More »
The Ensign Group Acquires Five-Property Portfolio

The Ensign Group Acquires Five-Property Portfolio

The Ensign Group has acquired a five-property portfolio from Invesque Inc. for $93 million. Spanning California, Kansas and Arizona, the transaction includes four skilled nursing facilities totaling 436 beds and a 144-bed assisted living community. The SNF portfolio was operated by Ensign, and The Pennant Group operated the AL community up until this sale. BMO Capital Markets advised Invesque on the deal. The portfolio sale was part of Invesque’s Jaguarundi Ventures, LP joint venture between Invesque and Magnetar Capital, of which Invesque owns an approximately 65% ownership interest. Jaguarundi Ventures will receive $22 million of net proceeds from the sale after the repayment of... Read More »
The Ensign Group Shines, Again

The Ensign Group Shines, Again

We have still not figured out how The Ensign Group continues to outperform the rest of the skilled nursing industry when so many companies and providers are still hurting, with many of them still not able to make lease payments in full. For the past year, we have wondered if the only way to perform as well as they have is to cook the books, so to speak. That idea was discarded, and while we know they operate their model with each facility run by a mini-CEO with full local decision-making responsibilities and run it successfully, we continue to scratch our heads and wonder why others can’t do what they do. It just must be the culture, but obviously, one that needs to be mimicked by others,... Read More »
The Ensign Group Acquires Operations of Three Facilities

The Ensign Group Acquires Operations of Three Facilities

The Ensign Group will assume the operations of three skilled nursing facilities across Texas and Idaho. The facilities include the 98-bed River Pointe of Trinity Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Trinity, Texas, the 150-bed Park Village Healthcare and Rehabilitation in De Soto, Texas, and Skyline Transitional Care Center, an 80-bed facility in Boise, Idaho. The acquisitions are subject to a long-term, triple net lease. Plus, the deal brings Ensign’s growing portfolio to 245 healthcare operations, 22 of which also include senior living operations, across thirteen states. Read More »
The Ensign Group and CareTrust Acquire Two Texas SNFs

The Ensign Group and CareTrust Acquire Two Texas SNFs

The Ensign Group and CareTrust REIT have teamed up to acquire the real estate and operations of two skilled nursing facilities in the Austin, Texas metropolitan area. CareTrust purchased the facilities for $32.5 million, or about $135,000 per bed, while The Ensign Group recently took over operations effective August 1, 2021 as part of the acquisition. This deal brings Ensign’s growing portfolio to 242 healthcare operations, 22 of which also include senior living operations, across thirteen states.  The facilities are Sedona Trace Health and Wellness Center, a 119-bed skilled nursing facility located in Austin, Texas; and Cedar Pointe Health and Wellness Center, a 122-bed skilled... Read More »