Welltower

Welltower Inc. is a real estate investment trust that invests in healthcare infrastructure. It is ranked 583rd on the Fortune 500. As of December 31, 2022, the company had investments in approximately 3,000 properties, all of which were in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

History
The company was founded in 1970 by Bruce Thompson and Frederic D. Wolfe as the first healthcare focused real estate investment trust.

The company was led by George Chapman from 1996 to 2014, when he retired and was succeeded by Thomas DeRosa.

Originally named Health Care Fund, the company changed its name to Health Care REIT in 1985. Health Care REIT became Welltower in September 2015.

Acquisitions
In 2011, HCN acquired nearly all the real estate assets of Genesis HealthCare for $2.4 billion. The transaction included 147 properties including post-acute, skilled nursing, and assisted living facilities in 11 states. Genesis continues to operate the properties.

In 2011, HCN formed a partnership valued at $890 million with Benchmark Senior Living. The partnership included 34 private-pay senior housing complexes. In January 2015, the company acquired nine Benchmark Senior Living complexes in New England for $360 million.

The company invested about $5 billion in 2012; it primarily targeted private-pay senior housing and medical office buildings. This included spending $530 million buying assets from Belmont Village Senior Living and $240 million on a property portfolio from Brookdale Senior Living.

On January 8, 2013, the company acquired nearly all the real estate assets of Sunrise Senior Living in a transaction valued at $4.3 billion. Sunrise owned 125 properties in large urban areas in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, including 120 wholly owned properties and five joint-venture properties. In a related deal, Sunrise's property management business was recapitalized and spun-off to a partnership including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, affiliates of Beecken Petty O'Keefe & Company, and Coastwood Senior Housing Partners LLC for $130 million. HCN bought out their interests in late 2014 through a joint venture with Canadian senior living operator Revera, with Revera owning a 76% equity interest in the Sunrise Senior Living real estate management and the remainder owned by Welltower.

Welltower first partnered with Revera in May 2013 when it formed a joint venture to share ownership of 47 Revera retirement residences in Canada. The company bought a 75% interest in the approximately CAD$1.35 billion portfolio with Revera owning the remaining 25%. In 2015, the joint venture then acquired Regal Lifestyle Communities for CAD$764 million. Regal held 23 private-pay senior housing properties with 3,600 units. Thirteen of these properties are in Ontario and seven are in Quebec. One property each is located in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland.

In early 2015, the company purchased all of Aspen Healthcare's four London hospitals for £226 million. The hospitals were then leased back to Aspen which continues to operate them. The deal included Holly House Hospital, Highgate Hospital, Parkside Hospital and Cancer Centre London. They were leased back to Aspen for 25-year terms.

In August 2015, Welltower formed a joint venture with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) to acquire a combined interest of 50.5% in a portfolio of medical office buildings in Southern California. This portfolio was purchased from G&L Realty, another healthcare real estate investment trust. In February 2016, Welltower announced that it had formed another joint venture with the CPPIB to buy a 97.5% interest in senior housing run by Discovery Senior Living in Florida for $555 million. The remaining 2.5% equity was retained by Discovery which operates all six properties. These properties are known as "Aston Gardens." Aston Gardens includes 1,930 units and provides a combination of independent living, assisted living, and memory care.

Welltower announced an agreement to buy 19 properties from Vintage Senior Living for $1.15 billion in August 2016 and closed in September of the same year. The properties sold include facilities for independent living, assisted living, and memory care mostly located in the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas. Before this transaction Welltower owned 114 healthcare properties in California. After closing it will become the largest owner of senior housing in the state. Welltower said it planned to transfer management of the properties to its partner property management firms. Eleven properties were to be assigned to Senior Resource Group, seven to Sunrise Senior Living, one to Silverado.

In April 2018, Welltower and ProMedica acquired Quality Care Properties and HCR ManorCare for $4.4 billion.