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MoFo Advises NorthStar Healthcare on Close of Its Acquisition by Welltower

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MoFo advised NorthStar Healthcare Income, Inc., a public non-listed real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns a diversified...

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MoFo advised NorthStar Healthcare Income, Inc., a public non-listed real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns a diversified portfolio of senior housing properties, in its acquisition by an affiliate of Welltower Inc. (NYSE: WELL), a real estate investment trust that invests in healthcare infrastructure. The sale closed on June 9, 2025, in an all-cash transaction with an approximate enterprise value of $900 million. This acquisition reflects a broader trend in the healthcare REIT sector toward portfolio diversification and integrated care models. Amidst an aging population and its evolving healthcare needs, this acquisition will serve to further diversify the real estate infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models under a single real estate platform. Ali Connaughton, co-chair of Morrison Foerster’s REIT practice said, “NorthStar Healthcare’s sale to Welltower is the culmination of NorthStar’s efforts to create value and provide liquidity to its stockholders, delivering cash consideration for their shares that exceeds the most recently determined net asset value per share. With continued volatility in the markets, non-listed REITs can offer an investment opportunity with a low correlation to listed REITs and other exchange-listed investments. Also, the addition of non-listed REITs to an investment portfolio can contribute to portfolio diversification and enhanced returns and may even offer inflation protection.” The MoFo team advising NorthStar Healthcare was led by Washington D.C. corporate partner Ali Connaughton and New York corporate partner Joe Sulzbach and Washington D.C. corporate associate Shams Haidari and New York corporate associate Sahana Ragunathan.Morrison Foerster is a leading legal advisor to <a href="/capabilities/reits" target="_self">real estate investment trusts (REITs)</a> and their sponsors across the U.S. and globally. The firm provides comprehensive counsel across the full lifecycle of REITs—publicly listed and non-listed REITs as well as private REITs—spanning capital markets, M&A, tax structuring, real estate finance, and corporate governance. With deep experience in a wide range of property sectors and transaction types, MoFo helps clients navigate complex regulatory environments and execute transformative deals. The REIT team is known for delivering practical, business-oriented solutions through a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach.

MoFo Advises NorthStar Healthcare on Close of Its Acquisition by Welltower

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Alice Connaughton is co-chair of the firm’s REIT practice and a partner in Morrison Foerster’s Capital Markets practice group. Ali’s practice focuses on representing public and private companies, including real estate investment trusts (REITs) and other direct participation programs, in a variety of corporate and securities matters, including, among other things, public and private securities offerings and tender offers.Ali regularly advises boards of directors, audit committees, and management with respect to strategic matters and corporate governance issues. Ali also routinely counsels public company clients with respect to complex regulatory matters, compliance with federal and state securities laws, corporate governance and general corporate matters.She has represented several of the leading sponsors of public, non-listed REITs in connection with more than $35 billion in public offerings.Ali has been recommended as a leading lawyer in Chambers USA for REITs since 2014. She also has been a member of the board of directors of the Institute for Portfolio Alternatives (IPA) since first being elected in 2020. The IPA provides national leadership for the portfolio diversifying investments industry, which includes non-listed REITs, BDCs, interval funds, closed-end funds and DSTs/1031 exchanges. Ali’s commitment to the REIT industry allows her to be completely dialed-in to regulatory developments and emerging trends, making her a trusted advisor to clients and a frequent speaker on topics impacting the industry.<h4>Representative Experience</h4><ul><li>Represented Hines Global Income Trust, Inc. in connection with its initial public offering and its follow-on public offerings for an aggregate of up to $7.5 billion of common stock.</li><li>Represented Ares Industrial Real Estate Income Trust Inc. in connection with its initial public offering and its follow-on public offerings for an aggregate of up to $9.0 billion of common stock.</li><li>Represented Industrial Property Trust Inc. in connection with its capital raise of approximately $1.8 billion through its initial public offering.</li><li>Represented Hines Global REIT, Inc. in connection with its capital raise of approximately $3.1 billion through its initial public offering and its follow-on public offering.</li><li>Represented Industrial Income Trust Inc. in connection with its capital raise of approximately $2.2 billion through its initial public offering and its follow-on public offering.</li><li>Represented Hines Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc. in connection with its capital raise of approximately $2.7 billion through its public offerings.</li><li>Represented numerous REITs in connection with initial and follow-on public offerings and tender offers.</li><li>Represented numerous public entities in connection with ongoing corporate governance, securities compliance, and other matters.</li><li>Assisted several public entities with special proxy solicitations in connection with restructuring, sales of assets, and affiliated transactions.</li><li>Represented public entities in connection with corporate and regulatory matters before the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and state securities regulators.</li><li>Represented Hines Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc. in the sale of its west coast office property portfolio to an affiliate of Blackstone Real Estate Partners VIII for $1.16 billion.</li><li>Represented CNL Retirement Properties, Inc. in its acquisition for $5.3 billion (including assumption of debt) by Health Care Property Investors, Inc.</li><li>Represented CNL Hotels & Resorts in connection with its sale to Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund.</li><li>Represented CNL Hotels & Resorts in connection with its acquisition of its external advisor, CNL Hospitality Corp.</li></ul>

Alice Connaughton

Partner

Joe Sulzbach is a partner in the Transactions Department, focusing on mergers and acquisitions and private equity. Joe has represented numerous public and private entities in a variety of transactions, including domestic and cross-border merger and acquisition transactions, private equity transactions, joint ventures, and corporate governance matters. He has advised a broad range of clients across industries, including technology, media, and telecom (TMT), industrial, chemicals, consumer goods and retail, energy, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, and real estate.Joe has also represented a number of companies in engagements with activist stockholders, including in responding to Starboard Value, Carl Icahn, Elliott Management, JANA Partners, Farallon Capital Management, and VIEX Capital.In addition, Joe has represented investment banking firms and financial advisors in a variety of significant transactions, including representation of Qatalyst Partners, Evercore Partners, Greenhill, Ducera Securities, and Solomon Partners.Select examples of Joe’s experience include the following representations:<ul><li>Veeco Instruments Inc. in its $5.2 billion merger with Axcelis Technologies, Inc.</li><li>BearingPoint, an independent management and technology consultancy firm, on its joint venture with ABeam Consulting.</li><li>SoftBank Group Corp. on its $2 Billion investment Intel Corporation. </li><li>Hooter’s Inc. and Hoot Owl Restaurants, L.L.C. in the acquisition of over 100 restaurants from Hooters of America LLC, the iconic casual dining and sports entertainment chain.</li><li>Shaklee Corporation in its acquisition of substantially all the assets of Modere.</li></ul><ul><li>Infineon Technologies AG in its $2.5 billion acquisition of Marvell Technology’s automotive ethernet business.</li><li>SoftBank Group Corp. in its proposed up to $40 billion investment in OpenAI, America’s premier artificial intelligence (AI) company and developer of the transformational large language models that are driving the AI revolution.</li><li>Infineon Technologies AG in the sale of its Austin, TX foundry to SkyWater Technology.</li><li>NorthStar Healthcare Income, Inc. in its $900 million sale to an affiliate of Welltower Inc.</li><li>Cartica Acquisition Corp in its $2.75 billion business combination with Nidar Infrastructure Limited, India’s leading data center provider for artificial intelligence and high-performance compute services.</li><li>Centuri Holdings and parent company Southwest Gas Holdings in Centuri’s $353 million IPO and concurrent private placement.</li><li>U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc. in its $1.85 billion sale to entities affiliated with Apollo Global Management.</li><li>The rock band KISS and its co-founders Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley in the sale of substantially all rights related to KISS to Pophouse Entertainment.</li></ul><ul><li>Sekisui House, Ltd. in its $4.9 billion acquisition of M.D.C. Holdings, Inc.</li><li>Astellas Pharma Inc. in its $175 million acquisition of Propella Therapeutics, Inc.</li></ul><ul><li dir="ltr">Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. in its adoption of a Tax-Free Spin Protection Plan.</li><li dir="ltr">Kyowa Kirin Co., Ltd. in its up to $477 million acquisition of Orchard Therapeutics plc, including CVR payment.</li><li dir="ltr">Sugar Foods Corporation in its sale to Pritzker Private Capital.</li></ul><ul><li>The News Lens Co., Ltd. in its $275 million business combination with Blue Ocean Acquisition Corporation.</li></ul><ul><li>Upland Software, Inc. in its adoption of a Tax Benefit Preservation Plan.</li></ul><ul><li>The Board of Directors and Special Committee of Toshiba in the $15.2 billion takeover of Toshiba by a consortium led by Japan Industrial Partners.</li><li>Infineon Technologies AG in the sale of its HiRel DC-DC converter business to Micross Components, Inc.</li></ul><ul><li>AgroFresh Solutions, Inc. in its $545 million going-private acquisition by Paine Schwartz Partners.</li><li>Unity Software Inc. in multiple transactions, including its all-stock $4.4 billion acquisition of ironSource and Unity’s concurrent $1 billion PIPE investment by Silver Lake and Sequoia, and in response to the related $13.6 billion unsolicited acquisition proposal from AppLovin Corporation.</li><li>Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. in its defense against a hostile tender offer and proxy contest for board control by Carl Icahn, including adoption of a shareholder rights plan, and negotiated resolution.</li><li>Marrone Bio Innovations in its $244 million acquisition by Bioceres Crop Solutions Corp. in a stock-for-stock merger.</li><li>Paine Schwartz Partners, a global leader in sustainable food chain investing, in its new platform investment in Registrar Corp., a leading provider of supply chain compliance software and services to domestic and foreign food and beverage, medical device, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic customers.</li><li>Silver Crest Acquisition Corporation in its $1.7 billion business combination with TH International Limited (Tims China), a master franchisee and operator of Tim Hortons coffee shops in China.</li><li>Sky Harbour LLC in its $777 million business combination with Yellowstone Acquisition Company.</li><li>SoftBank Group Corp., as the largest investor in WeWork, in WeWork’s $9 billion business combination with BowX Acquisition Corp.</li><li>Leading provider of patient access and engagement platform in its sale to a publicly listed company.</li><li>ON Semiconductor Corporation in its adoption of a shareholder rights plan.</li><li>Whitestone REIT in its adoption of a shareholder rights plan.</li><li>Exantas Capital Corp. in the acquisition of its external management contract by ACRES Capital Corp. from C-III Capital Partners LLC, and $375 million financing from MassMutual and Oaktree Capital Management.</li><li>NTT Communications Corporation and Secure-24 in the acquisition of SymSoft Holding Inc. and Symmetry Holding Inc. from Symmetry Holdings, LLC, a portfolio company of Great Hill Equity Partners.</li><li>Kirin Holdings Company, Limited in its acquisition of approximately 40% of the capital stock of Thorne Holding Corp.</li><li>Rao’s Specialty Foods, Inc. in its sale to Sovos Brands, an affiliate of funds managed by Advent International.</li><li>JERA in its sale of a minority interest in Cricket Valley Energy Center to Development Bank of Japan.</li><li>JERA in the acquisition of a 43% stake in Cricket Valley Energy Center, the developer of a 1,000 MW natural gas-fired power plant located in Dover, New York.</li><li>Renesas Electronics in its $3.2 billion acquisition of Intersil Corporation.</li><li>DaVita HealthCare Partners in its acquisition of Renal Ventures Limited.</li><li>Inovalon Holdings, Inc. in its acquisition of Creehan Holding Co., Inc.</li><li>Inovalon Holdings, Inc. in its acquisition of Avalere Health, Inc.</li><li>GLP Pte. Ltd. in the acquisition of a $4.55 billion U.S. logistics portfolio from Industrial Income Trust.</li><li>JLB Group, LLC in its acquisition of Sneakz, LLC.</li><li>Futamura Chemical Co., Ltd. in its acquisition of the cellulose business of Innovia Films.</li><li>Kirin Holdings Company, Limited in its acquisition of approximately 24.5% of the capital stock of The Brooklyn Brewery Corporation.</li></ul>

Joseph Sulzbach

Shams Haidari is a corporate associate in the Washington D.C. office of Morrison Foerster.Shams advises public and private clients on a wide range of corporate matters, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, restructurings, and financings.Prior to joining the firm, Shams was an associate at another international law firm, where she advised on transactions and tax matters.Shams received her J.D. from Harvard Law School, where she served as the Tax Chair for the Harvard Association for Law & Business, Executive Editor for the Harvard Business Law Review, and Submissions Reviewer for Harvard Environmental Law Review.Shams holds a B.A., summa cum laude, from University of Pennsylvania.Shams is fluent in Arabic.

Shams Alaa Haidari

Associate

Sahana Ragunathan is a corporate associate in the New York office of Morrison Foerster.Prior to joining Morrison Foerster, Sahana worked as an analyst for Goldman Sachs, where she supported global cross-asset derivative desks for institutional clients across Asia and EMEA. She also served as a summer intern with Lawyers for Children.﻿Sahana earned her J.D. from Columbia Law School, where she served as a Staff Member for the Columbia Business Law Review. She received her B.B.A. from Christ University.She is proficient in Hindi and Tamil.

Sahana Ragunathan

REITs