[updated] Apollo To Acquire Bridge Investment Group In Deal Valued At $1.5b

Apollo (NYSE: APO) on Monday announced the acquisition of real estate firm Bridge Investment Group, one of the largest owners of senior housing in the U.S., in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $1.5 billion.

Orlando, Florida-based Bridge Investment Group owns 62 senior living communities and ranks 21st on the 2024 American Seniors Housing Association (ASHA) largest senior housing ownership list with over 7,748 units. Bridge Investment Group operates 33 properties of over 4,203 units and was ranked 50th in ASHA’s Top 50 largest senior living operators list.

Bridge currently manages approximately $50 billion in real estate assets under management (AUM) targeting “both institutional and wealth clients and is expected to be highly synergistic with Apollo’s existing real estate equity strategies and lending real estate credit platform,” the news release announcing the acquisitions states.

The transaction, according to Bridge Executive Chairman Bob Morse, will allow both Bridge and Apollo to grow moving forward. Upon closing, Morse will become a partner at Apollo and lead the company’s real estate equity franchise.

“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,” Morse said in the news release.

Also in the news release, Apollo Partner and Co-Head of Equity David Sambur said Bridge was “highly aligned with Apollo’s strategic focus on expanding” its origination base in “areas of our business that are growing but not yet at scale.”

In the fourth quarter of 2024, Apollo reported that its retirement services unit saw a 12% increase in earnings rising to $841 million, according to Reuters.

Bridge also had a reported $960 million in market capitalization as of last Friday with Bridge shares having lost 20% over the past three month period, largely due to higher interest rates which pressure real estate valuations, according to an article published on Monday by the Wall Street Journal.

“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,” Sambur said in the news release announcing the deal.

Unpacking the acquisition

Approximately 6% of Bridge’s fee-earning AUM came from senior living properties as of the end of last year, according to an 8-K filing for the fourth quarter of 2024.

Subject to the completion of the transaction, shares of Bridge common stock will no longer be listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Bridge will become a privately held company, according to a news release regarding the transaction.

On the announcement of the transaction by Apollo, Bridge stock rose 35% with the new agreement giving Bridge investors Apollo shares worth approximately $11.50 per Bridge share, a 45% premium from Feb. 21 trading, according to financial markets monitoring website Investopedia.

Bridge was founded in 2009 originally as Bridge Seniors Housing Fund Manager, before going public in 2021. At the time of the public offering, Bridge had 100 communities with $4.5 billion in senior living assets.

The acquisition comes as Apollo previously set a target for managing $1 trillion of assets by 2026 and $1.5 trillion in assets by 2026, according to an article published Monday by Reuters.

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of this year, and upon closing, Bridge will operate as a stand alone platform within Apollo’s asset management business, while retaining its existing brand, management and capital formation teams.

Institutional capital in senior housing continues growth

Private equity and venture capital investment firms have increased their holdings in senior housing in recent years, with a 2021 estimate by Bridge Senior Managing Director and Co-CIO Blake Peeper noting that institutional investors were holding between $9 billion and $12 billion to invest in senior housing assets following the Covid-19 pandemic.

In February 2022, Bridge and private marketing firm StepStone Real Estate, part of the StepStone Group (Nasdaq: STEP), partnered on a $75 million program to acquire, develop and operate senior living communities.

In recent years, the senior living industry has seen steady investment by institutional investors in senior housing, including Bain Capital, TPG and The Carlyle Group.

In emailed comments to SHN on Monday, True Connection Communities Vice President of Marketing Geoff Duncan said the Apollo transaction highlights the growing number of institutional investors now interested in senior living portfolios due to the ability to build unit counts and increase occupancy, which, in turn, increases the value of newly-acquired communities.

“More influence from institutional investors will push senior housing operators to continue to innovate with their operational processes,” Duncan said.

Senior living operator True Connection Communities operates 18 communities in 11 states and is based in Clearwater, Florida.

Competition “may intensify” in 2025 as more investors enter the space, according to a JLL Capital Markets report on investor sentiment that was released last week. A total of 78% of investors said they plan to increase their senior living portfolios this year. Favorable demographic trends, improved sector occupancy and recent bustling transaction activity coincide with the survey’s rosier findings.

Representatives for Bridge and Apollo has not responded to a request for additional comment by Senior Housing News as of publication on Monday afternoon.

SHN Reporter Austin Montgomery contributed to this story.

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