Ventas Completes Deal, Becomes Largest Medical Office Owner

CHICAGO-Ventas has officially completed its $765 million purchase of Charlotte-based Cogdell Spencer Inc., making Ventas the largest owner of medical office buildings in the United States. Cogdell stock has been taken off the NYSE.

The locally based healthcare REIT paid $4.25 per Cogdell share for the company, from a deal announced in December. The deal included the acquisition of 68 MOBs that are 92% occupied on average, as well as two properties that need to be leased and two that are in development, a total of 4.2 million square feet.

Ventas will also take over Cogdell’s management contracts on 44 properties, a total of about two million square feet. The MOBs are mostly located in the Southeast, with the bulk of the assets in North Carolina and South Carolina, though the portfolio includes properties in California, New York, Indianapolis, Minnesota, Washington, Virginia and Pennsylvania.

Debra Cafaro, chairwoman and CEO of the trust, said in a statement that Ventas is responsible for more than 21 million square feet of owned and managed properties. “This transaction increases our MOB portfolio from 12% to 15% of our total business, and we now have a coast-to-coast presence that is second to none in the healthcare real estate industry,” Cafaro said.

The Cogdell MOB portfolio and employees were integrated into Ventas’ Lillibridge Healthcare Services operating platform. In addition, consistent with the terms of the definitive transaction agreement, Cogdell has completed the sale of its Marshall Erdman design-build and development business to an affiliate of Lubar & Co., a private equity firm affiliated with David Lubar.