EAGLE, Idaho — The Pennant Group Inc. (NASDAQ: PNTG), an Eagle-based REIT, has agreed to transfer the operations of five senior living communities to affiliates of The Ensign Group Inc.
The five communities are located in Washington, Arizona and California and are co-located with skilled nursing facilities already operated by affiliates of Ensign. The transaction is anticipated to occur across separate closings in the first half of 2022, subject to receipt of third-party approvals and other customary closing conditions.
On the same day, Pennant Group announced that it has entered into a letter of intent to lease the operations of a Class A senior living community in a “key market” for Pennant. It is anticipated that the commencement date of the long-term, triple net lease will begin in the second quarter of 2022.
“The transaction with Ensign allows us to focus our growing leadership strength on fewer operations across a tighter geographic footprint,” says Danny Walker, Pennant’s CEO. “We are confident in the long-term value of our senior living portfolio and believe this minor reconstitution will accelerate the realization of that value.”
“When we prepared to spin-off from Ensign, together we carefully constructed Pennant’s portfolio of senior living operations that we felt would be best operated within our organization and provide the most value to our collective stakeholders,” says Brent Guerisoli, Pennant’s president. “With the added insight gained from operating independently through a rapidly changing environment, we undertook a one-time strategic review of our senior living portfolio and believe that combining the operations of these particular campus settings would allow for care, staffing and other strategic refinements that would better address the needs of their residents and families.”
Upon closing of these transactions, Pennant affiliates will operate 50 senior living communities across six states.