Brookdale, Emeritus Close $2.2B Merger

NASHVILLE—Brookdale Senior Living Inc. and Emeritus Corp. have completed their $2.2-billion merger, creating what they say is the first national senior living solutions company. The merger increases Brookdale's capacity to 112,694 units in 1,161 communities across 46 states with what the company says is “the only nationwide network of senior living communities” covering the full spectrum of care.

“We are at a transformational point in the history of the company,” says Brookdale CEO Andy Smith. “With this merger, we will improve our ability to deliver the best, high quality solutions for the growing demographic of aging seniors and their families. Our newly combined company will have incredible size and scale in our industry.” That being said, it represents just 10% share of the seniors market.

Plans are to leverage this size and scale in order to “build a national Brookdale brand, create new efficiencies in our operating platform and drive new innovations to serve our residents,” says Smith. “We are excited to welcome the Emeritus associates into the Brookdale family as we build a bigger, stronger, more dynamic Brookdale for the future.”

Shareholders in Emeritus will receive 0.95 of a share of Brookdale common stock in exchange for each share of Emeritus. In total, approximately 47.6 million shares of Brookdale common stock are being issued to Emeritus shareholders, representing about 27.5% of the 173 million total shares outstanding. Emeritus is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Brookdale and is no longer traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

As was expected when the merger was first announced in February, Emeritus' president and CEO, Granger Cobb, has joined the Brookdale board of directors. He's been a major player in the senior living sector since 1989, when he founded Cobbco Inc.