Brookdale down on majority owner offering news

Private-equity group will sell at least 11 million shares of Brentwood company

Email | Print By Erin Lawley

Affiliates of asset management firm Fortress Investment Group LLC this morning filed papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell 11 million shares of Brookdale Senior Living.

News of the offering has Brookdale shares (Ticker: BKD) under pressure. At about 11 a.m., they were trading at $16.69, down nearly 6 percent. Earlier this morning, they briefly dipped below $16, their lowest level in two months. Year to date, they’re still up about 200 percent.

Fortress also has the option to sell another 1.1 million shares in the coming month via the offering, which is being managed by BofA Merrill Lynch. Fortress had indicated its plans to begin selling off chunks of its holdings in Brentwood-based Brookdale this past spring.

After the offering, the selling stockholders and other funds managed by affiliates of Fortress will beneficially own about 42 percent of Brookdale’s stock. Brookdale won’t receive any proceeds from the sale.