Ventas Raises Bid for Sunrise to C$2.3B

TORONTO-Two weeks after an appeals court affirmed that Ventas had a binding agreement to buy Sunrise, the Louisville, KY-based suitor has upped the proposed price, from C$15 per share to C$16.50. This brings the total value of the transaction to C$2.3 billion, approximately $2 billion in the US.

“With Ventas’ 10% purchase price increase, the final price represents a premium of approximately 57% over the volume weighted average trading price of the REIT’s units on the Toronto Stock Exchange for the 20-day period immediately preceding the announcement of the original transaction in January,” says Michael Warren, chairman of Sunrise, in a statement. “The Sunrise REIT Special Committee and board of trustees strongly recommend that unitholders vote for the proposed Ventas transaction at the upcoming special meeting.” The transaction is expected to close on April 26, after the mergers is approved by Sunrise’s unitholders in a special meeting.

Should the latest bid fail to meet the needed approval, Debra Cafaro, chairman, president and CEO of Ventas says, “It is important to underscore, however, that C$16.50 is Ventas’ ‘best and final’ price; if we do not complete this transaction at this price, we will focus our attention on the other attractive acquisition opportunities in our pipeline.”