ABP Acquisition to Purchase AlerisLife for $43.8M

by Jeff Shaw

NEWTON, Mass. — ABP Acquisition LLC has agreed to acquire Newton-based operator AlerisLife Inc. (NASDAQ: ALR) for $1.31 per share, or $43.8 million, and take the company private.

The price represents an 85 percent premium to the average stock price over the 30 days prior to the sale announcement, which was 71 cents per share.

ABP is majority owned and controlled by Adam Portnoy, one of ALR’s managing directors and the chair of its board of directors.

ABP and its affiliates currently own approximately 6.1 percent of ALR’s outstanding shares of common stock. Diversified Healthcare Trust (NASDAQ: DHC), which holds approximately 31.9 percent of the outstanding shares of ALR common stock, has also consented to the transaction and has agreed to tender its shares in the tender offer.

The transaction is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of this year.

The transaction was unanimously recommended by a special committee of the ALR Board of Directors comprised entirely of independent directors. The special committee engaged Citigroup Global Markets Inc. as its financial advisor in connection with the transaction.

Formerly known as Five Star Senior Living, 2022 was a year of major change at Aleris. The company rebranded under its current banner in February, changed CEOs in May, and then hired a new chief financial officer and chief operating officer over the summer.

The stock price fell sharply in May after the departure of then-CEO Katie Potter, falling from $2.14 per share on April 29 to $1.27 on May 9. The price fell below $1 per share in September and hasn’t risen above that level since.

As of June 1, Aleris was the sixth largest seniors housing operator in the United States, with a portfolio of 140 communities totaling 19,999 units, according to the American Seniors Housing Association.

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