Griffin Serves as Exclusive Financial Advisor to Diakon

Company Overview

Diakon, a nonprofit Lutheran organization, offers senior lifestyle and health care services, as well as a wide range of services for children, families and adults of all ages. Through its affiliate, Diakon Lutheran Social Ministries (DLSM), the organization has been a premier operator in the senior living industry since 1940.

Situation

Diakon made a strategic decision to divest its senior living operations to (i) monetize assets and generate proceeds that can be redeployed in other mission activities, (ii) provide resources to drive accelerated growth and innovation in its children and family services and (iii) grow its affordable housing portfolio. DLSM’s senior living operations consist of four life plan communities, which, in aggregate, include 688 independent living units, 197 personal care apartments and 414 skilled nursing beds.

Solution

Diakon engaged Griffin as its exclusive investment banker to assist in the divestiture of its senior living operations. Griffin has a long history with Diakon, having assisted with divestitures in 2020 and 2021. Griffin launched a competitive sale process involving a select group of for-profit and nonprofit strategic buyers. The process generated multiple proposals, and ultimately, the transaction was structured as a member substitution, combining DLSM with St. Louis-based Lutheran Senior Services (LSS), resulting in LSS becoming the 12th largest nonprofit senior living organization in the U.S.

For more information on this transaction, please contact Mitch Smith, Vice President, at 610.478.2043.