UPDATE: Senior Housing Properties CEO talks acquisitions

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Related Companies HRPT Properties Trust (HRP) Senior Housing Properties (SNH)

Related Documents Transcript (ET) Senior Housing Properties 11/3/2009

Related Articles 11/3/2009 Senior Housing Properties reports Q3 results 7/8/2009 Senior Housing Properties provides update on acquisitions from HRPT Properties 5/6/2008 Senior Housing to acquire 48 properties from HRPT Properties for $565 million

Senior Housing Properties Trust President, CEO and COO David Hegarty on Nov. 3 described the current acquisition environment in the senior-housing and medical office building segments as modest.

"We continue to encounter senior-housing owners who are reluctant to sell unless they have some pressure from a lender or an investor who needs liquidity," Hegarty said during the company's third-quarter earnings conference call. "We see several one-up properties for sale and an occasional portfolio. We also see health care systems developers and physicians who continue to look to monetize their real estate. And we are continually evaluating potential MOB investments."

Hegarty said the company's current focus is MOB and senior-housing assets, with assisted-living and Alzheimer's care facilities presenting the most attractive opportunities.

Furthermore, Hegarty said the company is not planning to make additional acquisitions from HRPT Properties Trust, but noted there could be other properties in HRPT Properties' portfolio that the company would consider buying.

On the financing front, Hegarty said the company is "not even looking" at the capital markets in the current environment, and will not unless there is a "significant transaction" to use up the proceeds. "We're open to doing some more government agency financing, but I think if the unsecured spreads were comparable to the secured government spreads at the time we're looking at it, then our bias would be towards going to the unsecured market."