Sunrise and GE Healthcare Financial Services Complete Aston Gardens Acquisition

MCLEAN, Va., Sept. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sunrise Senior Living, Inc. today announced that it completed its acquisition of six Florida senior living communities operated under the Aston Gardens brand name. Sunrise acquired management of, and a 25 percent ownership interest in, the six Aston Gardens communities, which have annual revenues in excess of $65 million, capacity for approximately 2,300 residents and are currently at approximately 95 percent occupancy. GE Healthcare Financial Services, Sunrise's independent joint venture capital partner for this transaction acquired the remaining 75 percent interest in the joint venture.

"We are fortunate to have found such a high-quality group of communities and talented team members that truly care about enhancing the quality of life for the seniors they serve," said Tiffany Tomasso, chief operating officer of Sunrise Senior Living. "This acquisition is very complementary to Sunrise given its communities are 100 percent private pay and offer beautiful rental and ownership accommodations to seniors seeking an upscale lifestyle. In addition, these communities increase our position in the fast-growing independent living market and expand our presence in prominent Florida retirement locations."

"We are pleased to continue to expand our reach and capabilities into the healthcare real estate equity market," said Stephanie Anderson, managing director of equity for GE Healthcare Financial Services. "Our customers' strong industry expertise has been one of the keys to our success. Together, we've worked seamlessly to identify facilities with tremendous growth potential, both in terms of their real estate value and commitment to quality of care."

The six Aston Gardens communities are located in four locations across Florida (three in the Tampa Bay area, one in Venice, one in Naples and one in Parkland). Each of the communities offers independent living accommodations, which in some locations includes both rental and Villa ownership options, and some of the communities also offer assisted living and Alzheimer's care.

The aggregate purchase price for the transaction was $450 million (which included approximately $134 million of debt assumption), plus $10 million in transaction costs for a total of $460 million. The GE Healthcare Financial Services affiliate funded 75 percent of the equity (approximately $117 million) for this transaction and Sunrise funded the remaining 25 percent of the equity (approximately $39 million) with the balance of the purchase price (approximately $170 million) paid through financing obtained by the joint venture. Sunrise funded its $39 million portion of the acquisition through its existing cash balances and line of credit.

Excluding one-time transaction and transition expenses, Sunrise estimates that the transaction will be approximately break-even in 2006 and slightly accretive in 2007.

About Sunrise Senior Living

Sunrise Senior Living, a McLean, Virginia-based Company, employs approximately 40,000 people. As of June 30, 2006, Sunrise operated 423 communities in the United States, Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom, with a combined capacity for approximately 50,000 residents. Sunrise also had 45 communities under construction in these countries with a combined capacity for more than 6,000 additional residents. Sunrise offers a full range of personalized senior living services, including independent living, assisted living, care for individuals with Alzheimer's and other forms of memory loss, nursing and rehabilitative care and hospice care. Sunrise's senior living services are delivered by staff trained to encourage the independence, preserve the dignity, enable freedom of choice and protect the privacy of residents. To learn more about Sunrise, please visit http://www.sunriseseniorliving.com/.

About GE Healthcare Financial Services

GE Healthcare Financial Services is a provider of capital, financial solutions, and related services for the global healthcare market. With over $15 billion of capital committed to the healthcare industry, GE Healthcare Financial Services offers a full range of capabilities from equipment financing and real estate financing to working capital lending, vendor programs, and practice acquisition financing. With its knowledge of all aspects of healthcare from hospitals and long-term care facilities to physicians' practices and life sciences, GE Healthcare Financial Services works with customers to create tailored financial solutions that help them improve their productivity and profitability. For more information, visit http://www.gehealthcarefinance.com/.

Forward Looking Statements

Estimates of future earnings are by definition, and certain other matters discussed in this press release may be, forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although Sunrise believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurances that its expectations will be realized. Sunrise's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, its ability to successfully integrate the Aston Gardens and Trinity transactions into the Company's operations, completion of Sunrise's accounting review and finalization of the restatement of its financial statements, the integration and performance of the Company's other recent acquisitions, development and construction risks, acquisition risks, licensing risks, business conditions, competition, changes in interest rates, our ability to manage our expenses, market factors that could affect the value of our properties, the risks of downturns in general economic conditions, satisfaction of closing conditions and availability of financing for development and acquisitions. These and other risks are detailed in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company assumes no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events.