In a move that will create a $3 billion senior housing owner/operator with a national scale, Sonida Senior Living, an owner and operator of senior housing communities, has agreed to acquire CNL Healthcare Properties in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at approximately $1.8 billion.
The merger will create the eighth largest owner of senior living assets in the United States, with a combined portfolio of 153 owned independent living, assisted living and memory care communities totaling approximately 14,700 units. Upon closing, the combined operator expects to have an approximately $3.0 billion enterprise value and $1.4 billion equity market capitalization.
“Sonida’s overarching objective is to capitalize on the long-term tailwinds of favorable demographics and supply constraints within senior living by operating and growing a best-in-class owner operator platform,” said Brandon Ribar, president and CEO. “This transaction represents an inflection point in our pursuit of that objective as it more than doubles Sonida’s number of owned units while deepening and expanding our exposure to the most attractive geographic areas for our strategy.”
Newmark’s Chad Lavender, president of Capital Markets, North America, and Ryan Maconachy, vice chairman and co-head of healthcare and alternative real estate assets, advised Sonida on the transaction.
“This merger reflects the strength of Sonida’s leadership and strategy, pairing operational excellence with a platform well-positioned to capture the long-term demographic tailwinds in the senior living sector,” Maconachy said.
Sonida will retain its NYSE ticker symbol and existing leadership team post-closing. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2026.
