Yahoo Finance Brookdale Announces Favorable Lease Amendments
Replaces Unique Financial Covenant, Extends Lease with Positive Coverage, and Further Improves Brookdale's Cash Flow and Liquidity
NASHVILLE, Tenn., May 8, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE: BKD) ("Brookdale" or the "Company") today announced that it has entered into revised agreements under each of its three triple-net leases with Welltower Inc. (NYSE: WELL) ("Welltower") to eliminate a unique financial covenant, provide up to $17 million of additional lessor-funded capital investments, and extend a positive-covering lease.
"We are pleased to have reached a beneficial agreement to improve several Brookdale leases," said Lucinda ("Cindy") Baier, Brookdale's President and CEO. "Through the transaction that we are announcing today, we have successfully replaced a unique financial covenant, extended the term of a portfolio of positively-covering communities and secured additional landlord-funded capital expenditures to accelerate performance. I believe that these lease amendments will support our efforts to create long-term shareholder value, while further improving Brookdale's cash flow and bolstering our liquidity over the next few years."
Terms and Benefits of Lease Amendments
The lease amendments include the following improvements:
In each of the Welltower leases, the unique net worth covenant provision was replaced with a consolidated tangible net worth covenant that is calculated in a manner generally similar to the tangible net worth covenants in certain of Brookdale's long-term debt documents. This improves the alignment of provisions across Brookdale's broader capital structure and eliminates a historical covenant that did not fully reflect Brookdale's current strength and financial position.
Extended the maturity of one positively-covering lease (based on 2023 first quarter annualized results) involving 39 communities from December 31, 2026 to June 30, 2032. The maturity dates of the Company's lease of five communities and its lease of 30 communities with Welltower will both remain unchanged, maturing on December 31, 2024 and June 30, 2032, respectively. The Company maintained the existing payment terms of each of these leases, including no impact to existing cash rent payments or annual lease escalators, which supports an expectation for improving performance as occupancy continues to recover.
Made available a new pool of up to $17 million of lessor-funded capital expenditures to cover costs associated with certain capital projects across 69 of the leased communities. These investments are expected to further improve these communities' performance, building on their success and enhancing their competitiveness into the years to come. An initial yield of SOFR (subject to a floor of 3%) plus a margin of 4% will be applied to capital expenditures funded from the pool. These funds will be available to Brookdale through December 31, 2026.
Retained Brookdale's existing purchase options for all three Welltower leases, including a favorable purchase option for the lease involving five communities that may be exercised at 2024 year end.
Additional information regarding these amendments has been made available on Brookdale's Investor Relations website located at brookdaleinvestors.com under the "Events and Presentations" tab.
About Brookdale Senior Living
Brookdale Senior Living Inc. is the nation's premier operator of senior living communities. The Company is committed to its mission of enriching the lives of the people it serves with compassion, respect, excellence and integrity. The Company, through its affiliates, operates independent living, assisted living, memory care, and continuing care retirement communities. Through its comprehensive network, Brookdale helps to provide seniors with care and services in an environment that feels like home. The Company's expertise in healthcare, hospitality and real estate provides residents with opportunities to improve wellness, pursue passions and stay connected with friends and loved ones. Brookdale, through its affiliates, operates and manages 673 communities in 41 states as of March 31, 2023, with the ability to serve more than 60,000 residents. Brookdale's stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BKD. For more information, visit brookdale.com or connect with Brookdale on Facebook or Twitter.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties and include all statements that are not historical statements of fact and those regarding the Company's intent, belief or expectations. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "could," "potential," "intend," "expect," "estimate," "believe," "plan," or other similar words or expressions, and include statements regarding the Company's expected financial and operational results. These forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and expectations, and the Company's ability to predict results or the actual effect of future plans or strategies is inherently uncertain. Although the Company believes that expectations reflected in any forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its assumptions or expectations will be attained, and actual results and performance could differ materially from those projected. Factors which could have a material adverse effect on the Company's operations and future prospects or which could cause events or circumstances to differ from the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the response efforts of federal, state, and local government authorities, businesses, individuals, and the Company on the Company's business, results of operations, cash flow, revenue, expenses, liquidity, and its strategic initiatives, including plans for future growth, which will depend on many factors, some of which cannot be foreseen, including the duration, severity, and breadth of the pandemic and any resurgence or variants of the disease, the impact of COVID-19 on the nation's economy and debt and equity markets and the local economies in the Company's markets, the development, availability, utilization, and efficacy of COVID-19 testing, therapeutic agents, and vaccines and the prioritization of such resources among businesses and demographic groups, government financial and regulatory relief efforts that may become available to business and individuals, including the Company's ability to qualify for and satisfy the terms and conditions of financial relief, perceptions regarding the safety of senior living communities during and after the pandemic, changes in demand for senior living communities and the Company's ability to adapt its sales and marketing efforts to meet that demand, the impact of COVID-19 on the Company's residents' and their families' ability to afford its resident fees, including due to changes in unemployment rates, consumer confidence, housing markets, and equity markets caused by COVID-19, changes in the acuity levels of the Company's new residents, the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on seniors generally and those residing in the Company's communities, the duration and costs of the Company's response efforts, including increased equipment, supplies, labor, litigation, testing, vaccination clinic, health plan, and other expenses, greater use of contract labor, overtime and other premium labor due to COVID-19 and general labor market conditions, the impact of COVID-19 on the Company's ability to complete financings and refinancings of various assets, or other transactions or to generate sufficient cash flow to cover required debt, interest, and lease payments and to satisfy financial and other covenants in its debt and lease documents, increased regulatory requirements, including the costs of unfunded, mandatory testing of residents and associates and provision of test kits to the Company's health plan participants, increased enforcement actions resulting from COVID-19, government action that may limit the Company's collection or discharge efforts for delinquent accounts, and the frequency and magnitude of legal actions and liability claims that may arise due to COVID-19 or the Company's response efforts; events which adversely affect the ability of seniors to afford resident fees, including downturns in the economy, housing market, consumer confidence, or the equity markets and unemployment among resident family members; changes in reimbursement rates, methods, or timing under governmental reimbursement programs including the Medicare and Medicaid programs; the effects of senior housing construction and development, lower industry occupancy (including due to the pandemic), and increased competition; conditions of housing markets, regulatory changes, acts of nature, and the effects of climate change in geographic areas where the Company is concentrated; terminations of the Company's resident agreements and vacancies in the living spaces it leases, including due to the pandemic; failure to maintain the security and functionality of the Company's information systems, to prevent a cybersecurity attack or breach, or to comply with applicable privacy and consumer protection laws, including HIPAA; the Company's ability to complete its capital expenditures in accordance with its plans; the Company's ability to identify and pursue development, investment, and acquisition opportunities and its ability to successfully integrate acquisitions; competition for the acquisition of assets; the Company's ability to complete pending or expected disposition, acquisition, or other transactions on agreed upon terms or at all, including in respect of the satisfaction of closing conditions, the risk that regulatory approvals are not obtained or are subject to unanticipated conditions, and uncertainties as to the timing of closing, and the Company's ability to identify and pursue any such opportunities in the future; risks related to the implementation of the Company's strategy, including initiatives undertaken to execute on the Company's strategic priorities and their effect on its results; limits on the Company's ability to use net operating loss carryovers to reduce future tax payments; delays in obtaining regulatory approvals; disruptions in the financial markets or decreases in the appraised values or performance of the Company's communities that affect the Company's ability to obtain financing or extend or refinance debt as it matures and the Company's financing costs; the Company's ability to generate sufficient cash flow to cover required interest, principal, and long-term lease payments and to fund its planned capital projects; the effect of any non-compliance with any of the Company's debt or lease agreements (including the financial or other covenants contained therein), including the risk of lenders or lessors declaring a cross default in the event of the Company's non-compliance with any such agreements and the risk of loss of the Company's property securing leases and indebtedness due to any resulting lease terminations and foreclosure actions; the effect of the Company's indebtedness and long-term leases on the Company's liquidity and its ability to operate its business; increases in market interest rates that increase the costs of the Company's debt obligations; the Company's ability to obtain additional capital on terms acceptable to it; departures of key officers and potential disruption caused by changes in management; increased competition for, or a shortage of, associates (including due to the pandemic or general labor market conditions), wage pressures resulting from increased competition, low unemployment levels, minimum wage increases and changes in overtime laws, and union activity; environmental contamination at any of the Company's communities; failure to comply with existing environmental laws; an adverse determination or resolution of complaints filed against the Company, including putative class action complaints; costs to respond to, and adverse determinations resulting from, government reviews, audits and investigations; the cost and difficulty of complying with increasing and evolving regulation; changes in, or its failure to comply with, employment- related laws and regulations; unanticipated costs to comply with legislative or regulatory developments; the risks associated with current global economic conditions and general economic factors such as inflation, the consumer price index, commodity costs, fuel and other energy costs, competition in the labor market, costs of salaries, wages, benefits, and insurance, interest rates, and tax rates; the impact of seasonal contagious illness or an outbreak of COVID-19 or other contagious disease in the markets in which the Company operates; actions of activist stockholders, including a proxy contest; as well as other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those set forth in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. When considering forward-looking statements, you should keep in mind the risk factors and other cautionary statements in such SEC filings. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of these forward- looking statements, which reflect management's views as of the date of this press release. The Company cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements, and, except as required by law, it expressly disclaims any obligation to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward- looking statements to reflect any change in its expectations with regard thereto or change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based.
View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/brookdale-announces-favorable-lease-amendments-301818436.html
SOURCE Brookdale Senior Living Inc.
