Bridge Investment Group, one of the largest owners of US senior living properties, is being acquired by Apollo Global Management in an all-stock transaction with an equity value of approximately $1.5 billion, Apollo announced Monday.
The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter.
The Salt Lake City, UT-based company, formerly known as Bridge Seniors Housing Fund Manager, was No. 21 on the 2024 ASHA 50 list of largest senior living property owners compiled by the American Seniors Housing Association, which noted a total of 62 properties with a total of 7,748 units as of June 1. In 2024, about 6% of the company’s fee-earning assets under management came from senior housing, according to the company’s year-end earnings presentation.
As of Dec. 31, New York City-based Apollo had a total of approximately $751 billion in assets under management, and Bridge had about $50 billion in assets under management.
Among Apollo’s involvements in senior living over the years, the company purchased 22 Brookdale Senior Living communities from real estate investment trust HCP, now known as Healthpeak Properties, for $428 million in 2018. Apollo, along with Leonard Green & Partners, also made news recently as the focus of a Senate Budget Committee investigation into private equity ownership of hospitals.
According to Monday’s announcement, Bridge will provide Apollo with immediate scale to its real estate equity platform.
Bridge, according to Apollo Partner and Co-Head of Equity David Sambur, is “highly aligned with Apollo’s strategic focus on expanding our origination base in areas of our business that are growing but not yet at scale.
“Their business will complement and further augment our existing real estate capabilities, and we believe we can help scale Bridge’s products by leveraging the breadth of our integrated platform,” he continued.
Under the terms of the agreement, Bridge will operate as a stand-alone platform within Apollo’s asset management business, retaining its existing brand, management team and dedicated capital formation team. Bridge Executive Chairman Bob Morse will become an Apollo partner and will lead Apollo’s real estate equity franchise.
“This transaction will allow the Bridge and Apollo teams to grow on the strong foundation that Bridge has built since 2009 as we work to pursue meaningful value and impact for our investors and communities,” Morse said. “With Apollo’s global integrated platform, resources, innovation and established expertise, we are confident that Bridge will be positioned for the next phase of growth amid growing demand across the alternative investments space.”
Under the terms of the transaction, the companies said, Bridge stockholders and Bridge OpCo unit holders at closing will receive 0.07081 shares of Apollo stock for each share of Bridge Class A common stock and each Bridge OpCo Class A common unit, respectively. The stock is valued by the parties at $11.50 per each share of Bridge Class A common stock and Bridge OpCo Class A common unit.
Bridge had planned to hold a fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 earnings call today but has canceled it due to the pending transaction.
