Sunrise Senior Living – SRZ – To be Acquired by Health Care REIT

NYSE: SRZ) announced that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Health Care REIT, Inc. (NYSE: HCN) will acquire all of the outstanding common stock of Sunrise for $14.50 per share in an all-cash transaction.  The transaction is not subject to any financing contingency.  The transaction represents a 62.4 percent premium to Sunrise’s closing stock price on August 21, 2012, and was unanimously approved by the Sunrise board of directors.

“We are most excited to achieve such a strong return for our shareholders while we forge a new relationship with a world class health care real estate owner/investor,” said Mark Ordan, Sunrise’s chief executive officer. “We are proud that Health Care REIT has chosen to invest in our team and looks to us as partners going forward.”

“We are very pleased that Sunrise, a leader in premier care to seniors, is becoming part of our portfolio,” said George L. Chapman, Health Care REIT’s chairman and chief executive officer.  “This transaction, with its high-quality assets, positions us to build on our collaborative, relationship-based investment philosophy and benefit from the ongoing transformation of the sector.”

The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals, customary closing conditions and approval by Sunrise’s shareholders, is expected to close in the first half of 2013. If the transaction does not close on or prior to February 21, 2013, as a result of certain closing extension rights which may be exercised by Health Care REIT, Sunrise shareholders will be entitled to receive additional transaction consideration during the period beginning on February 21, 2013.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. and KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc. served as financial advisors, and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz as legal advisor to Sunrise.

About Sunrise Senior Living – SRZ

Sunrise Senior Living (SRZ), a McLean, Va.-based company, employs approximately 31,600 people. As of June 30, 2012, Sunrise operated 307 communities located in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, with a unit capacity of approximately 29,800 units. SRZ offers a full range of personalized senior living services, including independent living, assisted living, care for individuals with Alzheimer’s and other forms of memory loss, as well as nursing and rehabilitative services. SRZ’s senior living services are delivered by staff trained to encourage the independence, preserve the dignity, enable freedom of choice and protect the privacy of residents.

About Health Care REIT, Inc.

Health Care REIT, Inc., an S&P 500 company with headquarters in Toledo, Ohio, is a real estate investment trust that invests across the full spectrum of seniors housing and health care real estate. The company also provides an extensive array of property management and development services. As of June 30, 2012, the company’s broadly diversified portfolio consisted of 1,010 communities in 46 states and Canada.

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Post Written By: Ed Liston Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.