Ventas Files Definitive Proxy Materials and Mails Letter to Shareholders
Ventas has filed definitive proxy materials with the SEC for its 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders on April 27, 2022. Shareholders as of March 21, 2022, can vote using the WHITE proxy card. Ventas reported a year-to-date total shareholder return (TSR) of 23% as of March 25, 2022, the highest among its peers. The company is poised to benefit from demographic trends and a recovering senior housing market. The Board urges shareholders to vote "FOR ALL" director nominees, rejecting Land & Buildings' nominee Jonathan Litt, whom they deemed unqualified.
- 23% TSR year-to-date through March 25, 2022, highest among FTSE Nareit Equity Health Care Index constituents.
- Significant investments in senior housing, healthcare, and life sciences; $3.7 billion in new investments in 2021.
- Proactive management during COVID-19 with focus on safety and strategic portfolio enhancements.
- Proxy contest initiated by Land & Buildings, a shareholder owning 0.2%, which may distract from business focus.
- Uncertainty surrounding recovery in senior housing due to the COVID-19 pandemic's prolonged impact.
Urges Shareholders to Vote “FOR ALL” of Ventas’s Highly Qualified Directors on the WHITE Proxy Card
In conjunction with the definitive proxy filing, Ventas has mailed a letter to the Company’s shareholders. Highlights from the letter include:
- Ventas has taken proactive actions and invested with discipline to enhance its portfolio and drive growth over the long term
- Ventas took significant steps during the multi-year COVID-19 pandemic to protect the Company and its employees and residents, deliver strong results and strengthen its senior housing business
-
As a result, Company has clear momentum, delivering TSR of
23% year-to-date throughMarch 25, 2022 , the highest of the 16 constituents in the FTSE Nareit Equity Health Care Index, which builds on its exceptional long-term annualized TSR of over20% since 1999, significantly outperforming the FTSE Nareit Equity Health Care Index, MSCI US REIT Index and S&P 500 - Ventas is building on its progress and is well positioned to capitalize on the upside of the COVID recovery, which is reinforced by powerful demographic demand
- Ventas’s Board of Directors is refreshed, diverse and uniquely qualified with fresh perspectives and the right expertise to oversee the Company’s continued positive momentum and value creation
-
The Board has determined Land & Buildings’ nominee – founder and Chief Investment Officer,
Jonathan Litt – is not qualified to serve on the Board
Ventas’s definitive proxy materials and other materials regarding the Board’s recommendation for the 2022 Annual Meeting can be found at https://ir.ventasreit.com.
The full text of the letter being mailed to shareholders follows:
Dear Fellow Shareholder,
Over our 20+ year history, Ventas has become one of the world’s foremost REITs and an accomplished S&P 500 company. Our long-term success has been built on the execution of an enduring strategy that capitalizes on our high-quality diversified portfolio of real estate that caters to a large and growing aging demographic, capital that supports the nation’s leading care providers, senior living operators, developers, universities and researchers, and an outstanding, collaborative team. This has resulted in Ventas delivering superior long-term returns for our shareholders.
Over the past two years, Ventas has successfully managed through the severely adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the senior housing industry, which represents nearly half of our portfolio. With the guidance of your Board of Directors and leadership team, we took swift and decisive action to keep our residents, operators and employees safe, and protect shareholder capital, while relentlessly focusing on execution, key management additions, portfolio enhancement and other strategic growth and capital allocation initiatives. Our long-term strategy of diversification has served us well, as our healthcare, medical office and life sciences, research and innovation businesses continued meaningful growth during the pandemic.
In 2021, we continued to move our business forward despite the recurrence of the pandemic. We positioned our business to capture the upside in the multi-year senior housing recovery, expand our industry leading university-based life sciences business and cluster market strategy, accelerate the growth of our valuable third-party capital management business, and enhance financial strength and flexibility for the long term. Throughout the crisis, our team rose to the challenge, demonstrating resilience, agility and high productivity while holding firm to our core values and commitment to corporate citizenship.
As we move forward in 2022, we see compelling signs that a senior housing recovery is underway, underscored by projected
Despite the Company’s outstanding Board, track record of superior performance, commitment to transparency and accountability with all of our shareholders and momentum as we emerge from the pandemic, Land & Buildings, a shareholder that owns approximately
Following receipt of Mr. Litt’s nomination and in keeping with our standard practices, we interviewed
VENTAS HAS INVESTED WITH DISCIPLINE TO ENHANCE OUR PORTFOLIO AND DRIVE GROWTH
With one of the most experienced investment teams in the REIT sector, Ventas is a premier capital partner to leading care providers, developers, research and medical institutions, innovators and other healthcare providers, and has a well-earned reputation for using creativity and insight to execute deals that deliver strong returns. We have thoughtfully curated a high-performing, resilient and diverse real estate portfolio of more than 1,200 demographically driven properties across asset classes, business models and strategic partners.
External growth has always been a core value-creating activity at Ventas. Since 2010, we have averaged over
During 2021, we built on our outstanding capital allocation track record, executing on
-
~
70% in the senior housing industry, enhancing the portfolio to capture the upside of the expected market recovery. This includes the acquisition ofNew Senior Investment Group , which adds a superior quality, high performing independent living portfolio with assets that are well located in advantaged markets. -
~
20% in the fast-growing life sciences, research and innovation space, expanding our portfolio to ~10 million square feet, including by delivering our exciting immunotherapy research and innovation center at theUniversity of Pittsburgh and theUniversity of Pittsburgh Medical Center and beginning a new ground up development with research leader$500 million University of California, Davis . -
~
10% through adding select assets with existing partners within our successful medical office building franchise.
We also strengthened our
VENTAS HAS TAKEN DECISIVE ACTIONS DURING THE PANDEMIC
TO POSITION OUR PORTFOLIO FOR GROWTH AND SUCCESS…
The Ventas team expertly managed through the multi-year COVID-19 pandemic with flexibility and a relentless focus on execution. In 2021:
- We supported the care providers in our senior living communities who rolled out life-saving vaccines, prioritizing resources to keep 75,000 senior residents and their caregivers safe.
-
We improved our portfolio and reduced leverage by executing on
of strategic dispositions and loan repayments.$1.2 billion
-
We raised more than
in attractively priced fixed income securities in the$1 billion U.S. andCanada to lock in low long-term interest rates and extend our weighted average debt maturity profile.
We also strengthened our position in our senior housing business, which since 2020 has been led by experienced executive
- We capitalized on our advantages within our senior housing business, including the combination of our deep operational experience and sophisticated analytical capabilities powered by Ventas Operational Insights (OI)TM, to execute strategic portfolio actions, enhance performance management and drive targeted capital investment.
- In line with our Right Asset, Right Market, Right OperatorTM strategy, we are realigning and expanding our senior housing operator relationships and consolidating assets in markets with the best supply-demand outlook.
- We have taken proactive asset management steps to address the vast majority of our senior housing triple net leases, the communities of which have been affected by the pandemic, providing shareholders with certainty, flexibility and opportunity for upside.
- We now have 37 distinct care provider relationships in senior housing and, in 2021, added six new operators and strengthened arrangements with longstanding partners. This includes recently transitioning 90 senior living communities heavily impacted by the pandemic and formerly managed by Eclipse Senior Living to a number of experienced operators with strong local market focus.
- We have also thoughtfully tilted our senior housing portfolio mix toward higher-margin, less labor intensive independent living assets in advantaged markets.
…AND DELIVERED STRONG RESULTS
Our recent fourth quarter 2021 results demonstrate that we are building positive momentum and our strategy is the right one to deliver sustained improvement across our real estate portfolio.
- We increased senior housing operating portfolio same-store average occupancy by 200 basis points year-over-year.
- For the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we increased SHOP rate and revenue.
- Both our sequential and year-over-year same-store cash net operating income in SHOP represented leading results among healthcare REIT peers.
Recent TSR performance clearly demonstrates this momentum. Year-to-date through
In addition, over the past one-, three-, five- and ten-year periods, we have delivered annualized TSRs of
As we continue to address COVID-19 impacts in 2022, we see compelling signs that a sustainable senior housing recovery is underway. Leads are at record highs, a demographic demand increase is quickly approaching, and robust pricing opportunities and occupancy are exceeding typical seasonal patterns in the first quarter. As a result, we are well-positioned for significant revenue growth and value creation for our shareholders.
VENTAS’S BOARD IS REFRESHED, DIVERSE AND UNIQUELY QUALIFIED WITH THE RIGHT EXPERTISE TO OVERSEE OUR CONTINUED MOMENTUM
Ventas prioritizes best-in-class governance and seeks to combine continuity with thoughtful refreshment to balance the institutional knowledge and experience of our longer-tenured directors with the fresh perspectives and voices brought by newly elected directors. As part of our ongoing commitment to director refreshment, the Board regularly works with leading independent search firms to identify suitable candidates to serve on the Ventas Board. Over the last three years, the Board has appointed four new independent directors, further increasing its diversity based on race, gender and experience. Today,
As part of the Board’s ongoing refreshment process, the Board carefully considered a number of outstanding director candidates, giving particular focus to the skills and expertise that would be most additive. Specifically, we prioritized candidates with a background in institutional investing in public companies and who also have had significant public company board, healthcare sector and ESG experience.
We also announced that
Collectively, Ventas’s directors have expertise highly relevant to overseeing Ventas’s strategy. The Company’s 11 director nominees – 10 of whom are independent – bring significant leadership, institutional investment, financial and operating experience across real estate, healthcare, REITs and public companies and life sciences. Each director is committed to strong oversight and is focused on advancing the best interests of all Ventas shareholders.
We have also implemented extensive corporate governance enhancements at Ventas, including recently nominating
Importantly, these enhancements follow significant engagement with many Ventas shareholders – including many meetings and calls with members of our management team and Board – to better understand our shareholders’ perspectives and to increase the Board’s accountability to our shareholders.
VENTAS IS BUILDING ON OUR SUSTAINABILITY LEADERSHIP
At Ventas, we focus on achieving strong financial performance through our sustainability leadership. We have made making meaningful investments in energy-saving technologies that enabled us to reduce energy use per square foot more than
Sustainability applies to our enterprise and employees too. In 2021, we took definitive steps in recruiting, investing in and engaging our employees to ensure we have a talented workforce to drive our continued success. We also ramped up our diversity, equity and inclusion actions across our company to ensure that Ventas stays true to its values and remains an outstanding employer.
We are proud to be recognized for our leadership in this area, including the following 2021 accolades:
-
Achieved CDP’s “A List,” which recognizes the top
2% of global companies scored - Named an Energy Star Partner of the Year for energy management practices
- Selected as the Nareit Leader in the Light for Healthcare for the fifth consecutive year for superior sustainability practices
- Received Silver in Nareit’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) recognition awards
-
Named a 2021 GRESB Real Estate Sector Leader, having achieved the top score across all
U.S. listed Healthcare REITs -
Maintained inclusion on the rigorous
S&P Dow Jones World andNorth America sustainability indices
VENTAS DETERMINED THAT LAND & BUILDINGS’ NOMINEE DOES NOT MEET THE STANDARD FOR BOARD SERVICE
Ventas regularly engages with investors in the normal course and values constructive input that may advance our goals of further enhancing shareholder value and the Company’s already-strong ESG profile.
In late
On
Following Mr. Litt’s nomination, your Board’s
Following the thorough review, the Board determined that
In its review of potential candidates, the Board concluded that
As a result of Mr. Litt’s continued efforts to secure a seat for himself on the Ventas Board, you may receive materials from Land & Buildings. Please simply discard and do NOT vote using any proxy card you may receive from Land & Buildings.
We believe Land & Buildings’ efforts to get
THE VENTAS BOARD BRINGS THE RIGHT EXPERIENCE
TO CONTINUE DRIVING GROWTH AND VALUE CREATION THROUGH THE RECOVERY
Your Board is composed of highly qualified directors who are active and engaged, with the right mix of skillsets and diversified experience as Ventas builds on its strong progress.
As we emerge from the pandemic, Ventas has the right strategy, team and Board to execute and win for our shareholders. The reasons to support the Ventas Board are clear:
- Ventas has taken proactive actions and invested with discipline to enhance its portfolio and drive growth over the long term.
- Ventas is building on its momentum and is well positioned to capitalize on the upside of the COVID-19 recovery, which is reinforced by powerful demographic demand.
- The Ventas Board is qualified, engaged, and diverse, and includes fresh perspectives to help drive value creation through the recovery.
YOUR VOTE IS IMPORTANT
HELP ENSURE VENTAS CAN CONTINUE TO BUILD ON OUR PROGRESS BY VOTING “FOR ALL” ELEVEN OF YOUR NOMINEES LISTED ON THE WHITE PROXY CARD: |
Thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
The Ventas Board of Directors
Advisors
About Ventas
Cautionary Statements
This communication includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements include, among others, statements of expectations, beliefs, future plans and strategies, anticipated results from operations and developments and other matters that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements regarding our and our officers’ intent, belief or expectation as identified by the use of words such as “may,” “will,” “project,” “expect,” “believe,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “seek,” “target,” “forecast,” “plan,” “potential,” “opportunity,” “estimate,” “could,” “would,” “should” and other comparable and derivative terms or the negatives thereof.
Forward-looking statements are based on management’s beliefs as well as on a number of assumptions concerning future events. You should not put undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of performance and are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. We do not undertake a duty to update these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are made. You are urged to carefully review the disclosures we make concerning risks and uncertainties that may affect our business and future financial performance in our filings with the
Certain factors that could affect our future results and our ability to achieve our stated goals include, but are not limited to: (a) the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its extended consequences, including of the Delta, Omicron or any other variant, on our revenue, level of profitability, liquidity and overall risk exposure and the implementation and impact of regulations related to the CARES Act and other stimulus legislation and any future COVID-19 relief measures; (b) our ability to achieve the anticipated benefits and synergies from, and effectively integrate, our acquisitions and investments, including our acquisition of
Important Additional Information Regarding Proxy Solicitation
The Company has filed a definitive proxy statement (the “Proxy Statement”) and form of associated WHITE proxy card with the
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220328005956/en/
Investors
(877) 4-VENTAS
Media
(212) 355-4449
Source:
FAQ
What is Ventas's total shareholder return for 2022?
What date is Ventas's 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders?
How can shareholders vote for Ventas's board of directors?
Who is the current nominee being opposed by Ventas?