Sunrise Pleased by Court's Dismissal of HCP Litigation

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Apr 30, 2010, 01:25 ET

MCLEAN, Va., April 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sunrise Senior Living, Inc. (NYSE: SRZ) today announced that, in an oral ruling, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ("the Court") granted summary judgment for Sunrise, dismissing all claims in the litigation filed against the Company by HCP, Inc. with respect to management agreements under which Sunrise manages four assisted living communities owned by HCP.

"We are very pleased that the Court has thrown out the baseless case brought against Sunrise by HCP," said Mark Ordan, Sunrise's chief executive officer. "The Court's ruling confirms that Sunrise has fulfilled its obligations under the management contracts with HCP. We are grateful for the support of our team members, shareholders, residents and their families throughout this process. The greatest strength of our Company has always been the outstanding service we provide to all of our seniors and we look forward to continuing to serve these communities."

The Court is expected to issue its formal order regarding today's ruling in due course.

About Sunrise Senior Living

Sunrise Senior Living, a McLean, Va.-based company, employs approximately 40,000 people. As of February 25, 2010, Sunrise operated 374 communities in the United States, Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom, with a combined unit capacity of approximately 37,800 units. 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, as well as nursing and rehabilitative services. 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.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain 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 these 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, the risk that the Sunrise is unable to settle the remaining claims with respect to its German subsidiaries; the risk that the Company is not able to sell the North American properties mortgaged pursuant to the restructure transactions; the risk that the net sale proceeds of the mortgaged North American properties are not sufficient to pay the minimum amount guaranteed by Sunrise to the lenders that are party to the restructure transactions; changes in the Company's anticipated cash flow and liquidity; the Company's ability to maintain adequate liquidity to operate its business and execute its restructuring; the Company's ability to obtain waivers, cure or reach agreements with respect to defaults under the Company's loan, joint venture and construction agreements; the risk that a group of the Company's creditors, acting together, could force the Company into an involuntary bankruptcy proceeding; the Company's ability to sell its German communities within a reasonable time period; the Company's ability to refinance extend the maturity of or otherwise repay its bank credit facility due in 2010 and other debt due in 2010 and/or raise funds from other sources; the Company's ability to achieve anticipated savings from the Company's cost reduction program; the outcome of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's investigation; the outcome of the IRS audit of the Company's tax returns for the tax years ended December 31, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008; the Company's ability to continue to recognize income from refinancings and sales of communities by ventures; risk of changes in the Company's critical accounting estimates; risk of further write-downs or impairments of the Company's assets; risk of future obligations to fund guarantees and other support arrangements to some of the Company's ventures, lenders to the ventures or third-party owners; risk of declining occupancies in existing communities or slower than expected leasing of new communities; risk resulting from any international expansion; development and construction risks; availability of financing for development, including construction loans as to which we are in default; risks associated with past or any future acquisitions; compliance with government regulations; risk of new legislation or regulatory developments; the risk that some of the Company's management agreements, subject to early termination provisions based on various performance measures, could be terminated due to failure to achieve the performance measures; business conditions and market factors that could affect occupancy rates at and revenues from the Company's communities and the value of the Company's properties generally; competition and our response to pricing and promotional activities of our competitors; changes in interest rates; unanticipated expenses; the risks of further downturns in general economic conditions including, but not limited to, financial market performance, consumer credit availability, interest rates, inflation, energy prices, unemployment and consumer sentiment about the economy in general; risks associated with the ownership and operation of assisted living and independent living communities; and other risks detailed in the Company's 2009 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC, as may be amended or supplemented in the Company's Form 10-Q filings or otherwise. The Company assumes no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events.

SOURCE Sunrise Senior Living, Inc.