Brookdale Senior Living Is in Early Deal Talks With Blackstone

By Dana Mattioli, David Benoit and Dana Cimilluca

Brookdale Senior Living Inc. is in talks with private-equity firm Blackstone Group LP and other suitors about a possible sale of part or all of the company, the nation’s largest operator of senior-living centers.

The talks are complex and at any early stage and may not lead to a deal, people familiar with the matter said.

There are a number of different forms a deal could take, from a sale involving Brookdale’s property to a full purchase of the company, the people said. Should there be a transaction, it could be substantial.

After its shares tumbled in the last couple of years, Brookdale had a market value of $2.4 billion Tuesday morning. But including its long-term debt and lease obligations of nearly $6 billion as of September, it had a so-called enterprise value of more than $8 billion. The company’s property alone is estimated to be worth as much as $7 billion.

Brookdale has been under pressure from two separate hedge funds in the past two years urging it to take steps including selling or spinning off its real-estate portfolio to reverse a decline in the shares. Shares fallen from nearly $40 in 2015, trading at just under $13 Tuesday morning.

Brookdale has more than 1,000 communities spread across the U.S., with more than 100,000 residents, according to its website. It also offers services such as outpatient therapy, hospice care and assisted living.

Write to Dana Mattioli at dana.mattioli@wsj.com, David Benoit at david.benoit@wsj.com and Dana Cimilluca at dana.cimilluca@wsj.com