of the panelists in our recent investment webinars have stated, buyers typically are not looking to expand via the Brookdale losers, and they certainly are not going to pay above-average prices for them, at least not now. But Ortelius is right, by getting rid of the losers, Brookdale will have less capex costs, not to mention less management time expended, all of which will increase EBITDA and margins. However, if these are in markets near GoodCo assets, they will help cover overhead costs, which is always a tradeoff. Brookdale figured that one out when they were negotiating its lease renewals with LTC Properties (NYSE: LTC), initially wanting to divest all of the leases and then coming back to renew a portion of them when they remembered this important aspect.
Another “path” outlined by Ortelius is to eliminate the leased portfolio. This assumes all leases are bad, and ignores the fact that almost all the improvement in revenues and cash flow goes to the tenant, and not the landlord. So, if you have a good and growing coverage ratio on the leases, that will help the operator. In times of improving operations, RIDEA structures benefit the owner (the REIT), but leased structures benefit the lessee (provider). There are 406 “GoodCo” properties with occupancy above 75%, so some of these include leases and we would think Brookdale would want to retain these.
At the end of 2017, leased properties represented 51% of the total owned and leased, which declined to 37% by the end of last year. By the end of 2025, that number is projected to decline to 24%, mostly the result of terminating some of the Ventas (NYSE: VTR) leases. Consequently, under Cindy Baier’s leadership, the company already accomplished most of Ortelius’s goal of eliminating the leased portfolio, and it makes little sense to terminate any remaining leases that are profitable and expected to be even more profitable in the years ahead. Besides, their idea assumes the landlords will allow an early termination, and it does not disclose what that may cost Brookdale. End of story.
Then there is the ubiquitous “unlock the value of real estate” concept. First, this assumes there is a lot of hidden value in Brookdale’s real estate. As mentioned above, much of the real estate is operating at sub-par
levels, so we are not sure what is going to be “unlocked.” Second, if unlocking the value includes refinancing properties that are performing well, then this runs counter to one of the paths of maximizing shareholder value, which is lowering mortgage debt. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. We are not sure why in their letter Ortelius kept on referring to 2013, which is just a completely different market.
With regard to the management team and Board, we are in full agreement with Ortelius. Why has it taken so long for the Board to start making these decisions about management and the future? The acting CEO, Denise Wilder, has been on the Board for several years and watched as shareholder value did not increase as the industry recovered from the pandemic. Hopefully they were a little jealous as the share prices of both Ventas and Welltower (NYSE: WELL) jumped. Did the members of the Board just enjoy collecting their $275,000 in annual compensation, not wanting to jeopardize that? Who can blame them, but at least try to earn your keep. If having a fiduciary responsibility to shareholders was part of the job description, they were all vastly overpaid, and pretty much failed. The proposed slate from Ortelius will do better, unless they drink the Kool Aid as well.
Strategic Alternatives? We have all heard the expression “too big to fail,” but how about too big to succeed. John Moore, the former CEO of Atria Senior Living, got in an argument with us several years ago when we questioned how big Atria was getting and whether that would lead to its downfall. His response was “nonsense, you can get as large as you want as long as you have good management in place.” The obvious inference was that he could overcome any “size” issues, because he thought he was a good manager (probably thought great). Well, he was wrong, and they had a few big public failures (remember the dish soap incident?).
In our minds, there is no question that one of the problems that plagued Brookdale was its massive size. On the way to getting there by acquisition they had to take on too many communities that were not the quality that the old Brookdale would have seen in the years before the disastrous acquisition of Emeritus in 2014 that took
the company to over 1,100 communities. At the time, we stated that the merger would be bad for the residents, bad for the company and bad for the industry. We were right on all three counts, but we were a lonely voice. All the Wall Street analysts and other pundits gushed about the real estate in the combined company and all its “untapped value.” Sound familiar?
Over the past several years, there have been activist investors who believed they could change Brookdale, or at least get a few new people on the Board to get things moving in a better direction. Some went public with their ideas and Board candidates, others stayed on the sidelines but whispered their interest. Many were excited about Brookdale’s size and the seemingly endless possibilities that can come with that. Unfortunately, there are some serious flaws with this train of thought. Whatever is done, it will take a lot of work, and a lot of disruption. But it must happen, especially if they want to be in a better position to take advantage of the wave of boomers entering senior living age.
So, you might ask, why do we say there are some serious flaws? First of all, the age of the buildings is a major problem in terms of attracting incoming boomers. Even though there are not many new communities being built today, any that are opening now, and will be opening in the next several years, will be the community of choice in their markets, if the customer can afford it. It will not be Brookdale, however, in most cases. And if Brookdale decides to attract more of a down-market resident, that will negatively impact margins and cash flow. At that point you can throw the higher values out the window. The longer we go without any real change, the older their buildings will get, and that will not help anyone.
While Brookdale has been touting its increase in staff retention and what a wonderful job they have been doing, that is not what we have heard over the past several years. First, resumes were flying out the door, with one CEO telling us he had a dozen Brookdale resumes on his desk, and some of them were good candidates. The common theme among staff heading to the exits was that the firm was somewhat directionless, and that management did
EXPERIENCE MATTERS.
not know what was going on. While we assume that has changed for the better in the past 12-18 months, it still has to be a difficult place to work and want to stay.
It almost seemed as if the failed leadership filtered down into the ranks. Here are a few examples that we came across. As you may know, Cindy Baier wrote a book called “Heroes Work Here.” We assume she had a ghost writer, because if she was spending time writing this, she should have been spending more time on the company she was tasked with running. Anyway, we were randomly touring a Brookdale community in Florida one Saturday afternoon 18 months ago, and right when you walked in was a big sign that read, “Heroes Work Here.”
We mentioned it to the salesman giving the tour, and asked if he had read Cindy’s book by the same name. He had no idea what we were talking about, and wrote the name down to look it up later. Now, the book was not well written and meandered quite a lot, but it portrayed the company and its staff in a really great way. It made you think that Brookdale was a great place to work, a great
place to live, and with a loving staff that only wanted to take care of you.
We subsequently asked Cindy why she didn’t have a copy sitting there in the waiting room at all of her 650odd communities. Her only response was, “that’s a good idea.” I still do not believe it ever happened. In the last pages of the book she stated she did everything she could during the pandemic for the staff, the residents and the company. But just imagine if she had donated $1 million of her significant compensation package to an in-house fund for employees in need. Think what that would have done for morale. Think how forward-thinking that would have been. Think what a hero she would have been. Maybe she did and kept it quiet, but somehow, we don’t think so.
Another time, she was driving us back to the hotel after an off-site conference event in 2019, and we asked what she thought of The Ensign Group (NYSE: ENSG) method of management to boost financial and operational performance, and why not adopt it at Brookdale. This
BRIDGE LENDING FHA/HUD LEAN FANNIE MAE AND FREDDIE MAC* MUNICIPAL ADVISORY
not. And you can lower the cap rate assumption, but given the quality of many of the assets, and the disruption that is bound to occur in operations, we doubt any buyer would pay a big premium for the portfolio. There is no question that the status quo needs to be disrupted. While we would all like to see a reconstituted Brookdale as the industry leader, paving the way for the incoming boomers, it most likely will not happen that way. The EDs should have been unleashed a la Ensign, and it make not be too late.
The first step is finding a qualified leader to take over, and in more normal times, that might be easier. Then, we do believe that the entire Board should be replaced by the Ortelius slate, except perhaps Beth Mace who is new and the only existing Board member who really knows the seniors housing industry. And whatever happens, they will need expertise as sort of a check on any decisions. However, given the problems, it is questionable how long a new CEO would even last, especially if the share price moves only marginally.
The unfortunate conclusion we have come to is that the
only real solution that has any chance of success is to break up Brookdale, sell off the parts at the highest price possible, and then maybe, just maybe, start to grow a core company with the best assets, and buy some bestin-class assets. But it can’t stay the size that it currently is, nor should it grow anywhere near its current size again after shedding assets. Size matters, and in this industry, we don’t know anyone (besides John Moore) who thinks you can successfully manage 600 communities, or 500, or 400…
Obviously, there is no guarantee what the pieces would yield in the market, and what all the machinations would result in. And maybe a visionary new leader would have new ideas that have not been bandied about. The company could just wait it out and move slowly on all fronts, frustrating shareholders beyond Ortelius. Or they could call Mark Ordan and have him do for Brookdale what he did for Sunrise Senior Living. Time is running out, and something drastic is needed. The industry deserves it, shareholders deserve it, the employees deserve it. And what about the residents?
million. Revenues totaled $4.33 million as of March 2024, and occupancy was 92% based on operational beds. The seller was a private owner looking to clean up their estate. Saul secured a private, regional owner looking to expand its footprint in the state as the buyer, for a price of $4.6 million, or $54,800 per bed.
The final three assets part of the Guardian Healthcare portfolio that fell into bankruptcy have sold after receiving HUD TPA (Transfer of Physical Assets) approval. Ryan Saul and Toby Siefert handled the sale. The whole eight-facility portfolio was originally marketed by SLIB in the fall of 2023 and went into bankruptcy after the buyer’s operator was not approved by the state. Still, the original buyer eventually became the stalking horse bidder. The operations of eleven other facilities were also slated for transfer. Guardian cited “lingering effects of COVID, labor shortages, rising wage inflation, increased reliance on high-cost agency labor, inadequate Medicaid reimbursement and mounting provider assessments in Pennsylvania,” as its reasons to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
We first wrote of the deal in October 2024 when the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania approved the sale of eight Guardian-owned skilled nursing facilities in Pennsylvania (seven facilities) and Fairmont, West Virginia, to GBK Eight LLC, which appears to be an affiliate of Noble Care. Additionally, the Court agreed to the operational transfer of 11 leased facilities, two of which include personal care homes, to Oxford Valley Health. In December, the five non-HUD facilities sold for $11 million, or $36,800 per bed. They total 299 beds and were built between 1964 and 1992, with subsequent additions completed at each location. Occupancy was 79%, but the five facilities were sustaining a significant operating loss.
Now, the remaining three facilities that required HUD TPA approval have sold for $45 million, or $156,250 per bed. They included Beaver Valley Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, Havencrest Healthcare and Rehab in Monongahela, PA (both Pittsburgh MSA), and Fairmont Healthcare and Rehab in Fairmont, West Virginia. Built between 1962
across central and northern Florida. They include Superior Residences of Clermont, a 114-unit AL/MC community in the Orlando MSA, Superior Residences of Cala Hills, a 60-unit MC community in Ocala, Superior Residences of Brandon, a 46-unit MC community just east of Tampa, Superior Residences of Lecanto, a 60-unit MC community along Florida’s northwest central coast, and Superior Residences of Niceville, a 90-unit MC community on the Florida panhandle. They are roughly 20 years old and could use some capex. Occupancy and profitability could also be improved, and there is an opportunity to convert MC units to assisted living.
The portfolio was originally acquired in 2018 by a Texasbased not-for-profit, which later defaulted on its debt obligations. Derek Pierce of Healthcare Management Partners (HMP) was appointed by the court as receiver, with responsibilities expanding to include portfolio operations and management of the sale. Under HMP’s oversight, occupancy grew by more than 35%, and the Lecanto community achieved certification from the nonprofit Joint Commission in healthcare standards, just the second community in Florida to receive this designation. The portfolio’s 20-year-old properties are well-positioned for a value-add play as the new owners plan to implement capital improvements, enhance operations and drive occupancy across each community.
Continuum was exclusively retained by HMP to lead a marketing and sales campaign for the portfolio under a court-directed receivership. Through its structured sales process, Continuum provided potential buyers the flexibility to acquire assets as a single portfolio or as individual properties of interest. In the end, David Kliewer and Jay Jordan secured three separate buyers for the five communities. Due diligence and contract negotiations were conducted concurrently, culminating in all three sales closing simultaneously on March 31, 2025.
Similar to Continuum, Berkadia also sold a very large campus and a portfolio in the Southeast last month. First, the firm was engaged by a national owner/operator in the sale of a CCRC in South Florida. The property appears to be Abbey Delray, a 505-unit community originally built in 1979 in Delray Beach that features 327 independent
living units, 48 assisted living units, 30 memory care units and 100 skilled nursing beds on 25.66 acres. We understand that occupancy improved throughout the marketing process. Abbey Delray was previously owned by Lifespace Communities, and the buyer was a regional owner/operator, which appears to be Citadel Care Centers. Mike Garbers, Cody Tremper, Dave Fasano and Ross Sanders handled the transaction.
Garbers, Tremper, Fasano and Sanders were also engaged by Royal Senior Care, a Florida-based owner/ operator, in the divestment of a seniors housing community in Eatonton, Georgia. Built in 2015, Harbor at Harmony Crossing comprises 60 assisted living and memory care units. The community has been consistently well-occupied, hitting 95% at closing. Inspired Healthcare Capital, a Scottsdale-based private equity firm, was the buyer. Royal Senior Care will remain in place as the operator. The purchase price was not disclosed, but the community sold for a cap rate in the mid-7s.
Berkadia additionally announced the sale of a portfolio of five independent living communities throughout the Detroit, Michigan MSA. Brooks Minford closed the transaction on behalf of a local multifamily developer/ owner/operator. The firm originally developed the portfolio, but the time had come to pass the torch to a new owner with more resources and experience in seniors housing. The 631-unit portfolio was purchased by a Midwest-based owner/operator of seniors housing communities seeking to expand its footprint in Michigan. No additional details were disclosed.
Senior Living Investment Brokerage’s Daniel Geraghty and Bradley Clousing handled the sale of a Class-A seniors housing community in Savannah, Georgia. Opened in 2020, Thrive on Skidaway features 146 units of independent living, assisted living and memory care on Skidaway Island near The Landings, a large resort community where many of the residents still have memberships to enjoy all the amenities the private community has to offer. There are limitations on developable land on Skidaway, as well as strict sewer and infrastructure regulations that create significant barriers to new development that make it difficult for
potential competitors to enter the market. As a result, this property is well-protected in terms of long-term value and occupancy and has consistently maintained full occupancy and a long waiting list. We also believe that given the census and market position, the community operated with a very strong margin, perhaps above 40%.
The seller is a partnership between real estate investment and asset management company, Drake Real Estate Partners, and Southeast developer, Equus Development Partners. The buyer is a global real estate firm, which will retain Thrive Senior Living to continue operations, marking their first asset with the company.
We’ve consistently heard that trophy assets such as Thrive on Skidaway (there are not many like it coming to market right now) attract significant attention from buyers in this current market, and SLIB added that the increased attention ultimately resulted in securing the highest and best price for the community. Given the location, performance and buyer interest, we believe the purchase price could have been one of the highest per-unit values
recorded in 2025, so far, or above $400,000 per unit. We’re also curious what kind of cap rate this property commanded, and we would guess it fell below 7.0%.
In another SLIB transaction, Saul and Brad Goodsell were engaged by a court-appointed receiver to sell Heritage Village, a 128-unit AL/MC community in Mesa, Arizona. Prior to the sale, the property had operational and public relations challenges due to several previous events associated with the former operator. It will be getting a fresh start under the ownership of a national operator with a regional presence in Arizona.
Built from 2009 to 2013, the community was 57% occupied, and lost approximately $900,000 on $6.0 million of revenues. The sales process saw multiple offers. The community ultimately sold for $8.0 million, or $62,500 per unit. Its new owner plans to stabilize operations and look to further rebrand the community.
Lastly for SLIB, Jason Punzel, Patrick Burke and Jeff Binder were engaged by a West Coast-based private
equity firm divesting a seniors housing community in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, as part of a strategic rightsizing of its portfolio. The community features 56 independent living, 75 assisted living and 16 memory care units. It was well operated and stabilized at the time of sale with an 89% occupancy rate and a 32% operating margin. The buyer, a Midwest-based private equity firm with a strong background in multifamily investments, is expanding its presence in the seniors housing sector. It intends to invest some capital into the community, and will retain Health Dimensions Group as the operator.
Dan Mahoney, Kristen Ahrens, Dillon Rudy and Pat Maloney of Blueprint facilitated the sale of two standalone, Class-A memory care communities in solid markets in Oregon and Washington. Built in 2015, Windsong at Eola Hills is a 56-unit value-add community in Salem, OR. The community was generating $800,000 in EBITDAR. Built in 2018, Windsong at Southridge is a stabilized, 56-unit private-pay community in Kennewick, WA. It was generating more than $1.4 million in EBITDAR.
Strong buyer interest resulted in six offers, with the sellers (which are exiting the seniors space through this divestment) ultimately choosing a Pacific Northwestbased operator partnering with a West Coast equity group. The operator has additional buildings in its portfolio, but this is the first it has purchased with this capital partner, and this is the capital partner’s first acquisition as a fund.
There was some fluctuating occupancy, which led to some tougher discussions, but ultimately the transaction crossed the finish line, and at an 8.6% cap rate with a purchase price of approximately $25.8 million, or $230,000 per unit. Blueprint’s Capital Markets team secured multiple financing options, with the buyer opting for a 72% LTV ($18.6 million) non-recourse fixed-rate bridge loan and a planned HUD takeout through BWE. The HUD process will begin soon for one asset, with the second following within 24 months.
Rudy, along with Kyle Hallion and Jacob Gehl, also handled the sale of a four-property seniors housing portfolio located throughout metro Atlanta and southern Georgia. A nationally recognized institutional private
equity firm based in New York was the seller. Built in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the communities have strong physical plants that have been well-maintained and have recently received capital investments. The portfolio offered a mix of in-place cash flow and valueadd upside through the completion of property lease up at two of the communities, while the other two stabilized communities offered attractive financing options for an incoming buyer. A large Georgia-based owner/operator looking to expand its seniors housing footprint emerged as the selected buyer. It intends to increase service offerings through the implementation of its various ancillary companies.
Blueprint’s behavioral healthcare team was engaged by a single-site residential behavioral healthcare provider in its search for a larger facility to meet its growth needs. The operator, a prominent first responder behavioral healthcare provider, acquired a former AL community near Park City, Utah, to expand its residential behavioral healthcare treatment capacity. The 15-year-old, 40-unit/56-bed community underperformed at roughly 40% occupancy and was primed for conversion given the ideal physical plant layout and substantial bed capacity.
There was a limited geographic scope for relocation given the operator’s need to retain experienced and reputable staff in a lightly populated region. There were also zoning entitlement hurdles, and an extended SBA loan timeline to help achieve the seller’s goals. Going from an internal valuation based on pro forma financials a couple years back to final pricing, the seller saw a 40%+ bump in price by going with this behavioral buyer. Shane Harmon, Andrew Sfreddo, Gunnar Raney and Colin Segner handled this off-market transaction.
In the final Blueprint transaction announced in April, Kyle Hallion, Connor Doherty and Ryan Kelly facilitated the sale of an assisted living community in Richmond, Kentucky. The community was built in 2009 and comprises 49 private units. The seller was a New York-based regional owner/operator divesting to strengthen its portfolio. The buyer was a Midwest-based private equity group looking to expand its regional operating presence. The group sees an opportunity to improve operational performance and
selected as the best fit and ultimate buyer. This marks the company’s first seniors housing acquisition, with plans to continue expanding its portfolio through the addition of performing, value-add and turn-around communities. The purchase price was $10.25 million, or $56,000 per unit. Tony Hong of BWE represented the buyer.
Phorcys Capital Partners acquired a stabilized seniors housing community in Clermont, Florida, through Phorcys Senior Housing Recovery Fund LP. Built in 2002 and expanded in 2014, Hunt Trace Senior Living sits on six acres and features 114 assisted living and memory care units. Impact Senior Living will operate the community. The community was part of a portfolio financed by municipal bonds, which fell into default during the pandemic. The asset was acquired through a court-appointed receivership sale at an attractive basis.
Phorcys plans to invest approximately $1.5 million in the community over the next year to modernize the plant. Phorcys’ seniors housing platform has now invested over $125 million in the sector. The company anticipates
additional seniors housing acquisitions this year. Christopher Utz of Ziegler handled the transaction, and financing was secured by Ryann Inselman and Debbie Blacklock of Stride Bank
Alta Senior Living expanded its portfolio with the acquisition of a seniors housing community in Sacramento, California, through a joint venture with its capital partner, Brasa Capital Management. Built in 2017, The Village at Heritage Park features 162 total units, with 54 independent living, 60 assisted living and 48 memory care units. The community has already been rebranded as Rose Arbor Village.
Alta was engaged in October by the previous owner, Old Second National Bank, to rebrand and stabilize an underperforming operation. Upon taking over operations, the community was roughly 40% occupied, which includes the vacant memory care unit that had been closed by the previous owner due to regulatory and licensing issues. Alta has since reopened the memory care.
The 2025 Senior Care Acquisition Report
million bridge refinance for a 250-bed portfolio of three SNFs in Pascoag and Warwick, Rhode Island, and a $25.5 million bridge refinance for a 280-bed portfolio of three SNFs in Abbotsford, Beaver Dam and Watertown, Wisconsin.
Dwight Capital and Dwight Mortgage Trust also closed more than $364 million in real estate financings in March. First, DMT closed a $50 million bridge loan for the acquisition of Silverwoods, a seniors housing community with 313 units in Toms River, New Jersey. Loan proceeds were used to finance the acquisition, fund an interest reserve, cover transaction costs, and purchase an interest rate cap for the borrowers, Mathias Deutsch and Isidore Bleier. The transaction was arranged by Moshe Feiner of Sevenstone Capital. DMT also provided a $32 million bridge loan to refinance a three-property skilled nursing portfolio in Rhode Island. The loan was used to refinance existing debt for a repeat Dwight client, marking the third financing Dwight has closed for the borrower. Adam Offman, Managing Director of Healthcare Finance, originated this transaction.
Capital Funding Group (CFG) closed $50.5 million in subordinate financing, which contributed to a $375.5 million loan, for the refinancing of 25 skilled nursing facilities across California, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, West Virginia and Wyoming, featuring 3,243 beds. CFG partnered with the nationally recognized borrower to restructure two existing bridge loans into one consolidated debt capital structure. The borrower plans to eventually exit through a HUD refinance. Craig Casagrande, Tim Eberhardt and Catherine Mansel originated the transaction for the company.
Last month, CFG closed a $53.4 million bridge-toHUD loan, providing interim financing to facilitate the refinancing of a maturing loan supporting two skilled nursing facilities and one assisted living community in Victorville, California. CFG intends to refinance the loan through HUD. Patrick McGovern handled the transaction.
BWE arranged $308 million to refinance construction debt on two seniors housing communities on behalf of a joint venture between Columbia Pacific Advisors, LAMB Properties and Harbert South Bay Partners. Ryan
Stoll and Taylor Mokris arranged the financing through an exclusive competitive process, which generated unprecedented interest and industry leading financing terms. The loan was ultimately provided by a large global lender, marking its entry into seniors housing.
Dubbed Project New Horizons, the refinancing was secured for The Variel at Woodland Hills in Los Angeles, California, and The 501 at Mattison Estate in Ambler, Pennsylvania. Both were built in 2022, with The Variel comprising 336 independent living, assisted living and memory care units and The 501 having 250 IL/AL/ MC units. The communities experienced rapid leaseup, reaching more than 90% occupancy well ahead of projections. They are operated by Momentum Senior Living.
JLL Capital Markets arranged $58 million in financing for Quail Park of Lynnwood on behalf of IRA Capital. Developed in two phases in 2014 and 2020, Quail Park comprises 252 units and sits on 15 acres in Lynwood, Washington. Alanna Ellis, John Chun and Zach Brantley of JLL placed the three-year, floating-rate senior loan with a regional bank, which we believe was BMO. Dean Ferris of JLL sold the property to IRA Capital in June.
Berkadia’s Jay Healy and Andrew Lanzaro closed a $102 million bridge loan in partnership with Live Oak Bank for a Class-A seniors housing community in Vancouver, Washington. The loan was structured in an A/B arrangement, with Berkadia funding the subordinate debt, and features a two-year, interest-only term. Loan proceeds were utilized to retire existing bank construction debt, preferred equity from a REIT and a partner note.
Built in 2023, The Park at University Village and The Inn at University Village features 263 units of independent and assisted living. The community was developed by affiliates of a Washington-based seniors housing owner/ operator, Koelsch Communities, which is a repeat client of Berkadia. The community experienced strong lease up, with an average of 10 residents per month. Occupancy at the time of closing was 67% with stabilization expected to be achieved in 2026. Berkadia intends to refinance the bridge debt through an agency exit.
enough to single out “private equity?” What about the good that they do to make needed capex investments in facilities and to keep open SNF businesses that would have ordinarily closed?
The NBER study also has a section devoted to recent private equity-backed nursing home acquisitions. It promisingly started with this: “Due to limitations in publicly available data, it is difficult to quantify private equity’s full involvement in the nursing home sector in recent years.” We do not believe they used LevinPro LTC’s M&A data and instead cited six deals from the last three years, including two from 2024, that had private equity buyers. Out of the more than 500 skilled nursing or majority-skilled nursing acquisitions in the LevinPro database from the last three years, that may not seem like a large-enough figure to warrant calling the entire report “Private Equity Is Continuing to Acquire – and Bankrupt – Nursing Homes,” which is the actual title.
Of the 60+ skilled nursing deals recorded so far in 2025 in LevinPro LTC, a handful may qualify as having a private
equity buyer or backer, but that is also in the eye of the beholder or in your own definition of “private equity.” And around 14% saw a REIT buyer, like Standard Bearer Healthcare REIT, The Ensign Group’s (NASDAQ: ESNG) captive real estate company. Most of the buyers were private owner/operators.
There are some deals that do not disclose a buyer. In our experience, an undisclosed buyer is either an owner/ operator or private investors, which could include private equity. That is where we agree with one of the study’s conclusions on increased transparency in skilled nursing. Selfishly, we could identify more buyers and sellers in our public M&A database (and actually disclose them rather than put them into our confidential database).
But transparency would be good for the customers and their families, adding accountability to ownership, as well as scrutinizing the relationships between facilities and sometimes-related ancillary businesses. We are often frustrated going to a skilled nursing facility’s website and finding no information on ownership, a corporate
