NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Raymond Brandstrom
January 12, 2004 Chief Financial Officer
(206) 298-2909
EMERITUS ANNOUNCES LEASE OF SEVEN COMMUNITIES
SEATTLE, WA, JANUARY 12, 2004 -- Emeritus Assisted Living (AMEX: ESC) (Emeritus
Corporation), a national provider of assisted living and related services to
senior citizens, announced today that the Company has assumed the leases on
seven communities and is in final negotiations to lease an eighth. All eight
properties are purpose-built communities offering assisted and memory loss
services and were acquired as a group, which Emeritus began operating under a
management agreement in May 2002 for entities owned or controlled by its
Chairman and CEO. The seven assumed leases are with third-party real estate
investment trusts.
ABOUT THE COMPANY
Emeritus Assisted Living is a national provider of assisted living and related
services to seniors. Emeritus is one of the largest developers and operators of
freestanding assisted living communities throughout the United States. These
communities provide a residential housing alternative for senior citizens who
need help with the activities of daily living. Emeritus places an emphasis on
assistance with personal care services to provide residents with an opportunity
for support in the aging process. Emeritus currently holds interests in 174
communities representing capacity for approximately 18,100 residents in 33
states. Emeritus's common stock is traded on the American Stock Exchange under
the symbol ESC, and its home page can be found on the Internet at
www.emeritus.com.
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995: A number of the matters and subject areas discussed in this report that
are not historical or current facts deal with potential future circumstances,
operations, and prospects. The discussion of such matters and subject areas is
qualified by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future
expectations generally, and also may materially differ from our actual future
experience as a result of such factors as: the effects of competition and
economic conditions on the occupancy levels in our communities; our ability
under current market conditions to maintain and increase our resident charges in
accordance with rate enhancement programs without adversely affecting occupancy
levels; increases in interest rates that would increase costs as a result of
variable rate debt; our ability to control community operation expenses,
including insurance and utility costs, without adversely affecting the level of
occupancy and the level of resident charges; our ability to generate cash flow
sufficient to service our debt and other fixed payment requirements; our ability
to find sources of financing and capital on satisfactory terms to meet our cash
requirements to the extent that they are not met by operations; and our
continued management of the Emeritrust I communities beyond January 2, 2004,
when our management agreements for those communities could be terminated on
short-term notice. While we believe that these arrangements will be extended,
we cannot guarantee that these discussions will be successful or, if the
arrangements are extended, what the terms will be. If we are unsuccessful, we
could lose the management fee revenue from these communities. We have attempted
to identify, in context, certain of the factors that we currently believe may
cause actual future experience and results to differ from our current
expectations regarding the relevant matter or subject area. These and other
risks and uncertainties are detailed in our reports filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our Annual Reports on Form 10-K and
Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.