[February 10, 2017]

Ventas Reports 2016 Fourth Quarter and Full-Year Results

Ventas, Inc. (NYSE: VTR) ("Ventas" or the "Company") today announced earnings for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2016, driven by the Company's high-quality healthcare, senior living and life science properties and accretive investments:

• Income from continuing operations per diluted common share for the full year 2016 grew 36 percent to $1.59 compared to the same period in 2015. The year-over-year increase was principally due to accretive investments, strong property performance, profits and fees from beneficial transactions and lower transaction costs. For the fourth quarter 2016, income from continuing operations per diluted common share was $0.40.
• Normalized Funds From Operations ("FFO") for the full year 2016 grew 5 percent to $4.13 per diluted common share on a comparable basis ("Comparable"), which adjusts all prior periods for the effects of the successful spin-off of Care Capital Properties, Inc. ("CCP") (NYSE: CCP) completed in August 2015. For the fourth quarter 2016, normalized FFO per diluted common share was $1.03.
• Reported FFO per diluted common share, as defined by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts ("NAREIT FFO"), for the full year 2016 grew 1 percent to $4.13 compared to the same period in 2015. The 2015 period includes results through August 17, 2015 of the properties that were spun off to CCP. For the fourth quarter 2016, NAREIT FFO per diluted common share was $1.04.

Track Record of Excellence Continued

"Ventas extended its long track record of excellence and success in 2016, generating strong growth and income from a high-quality diverse portfolio while enhancing its financial strength," said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Debra A. Cafaro. "We also delivered 16 percent total shareholder return as our exciting investment in life science and innovation centers and strategic dispositions created additional value. We are confident that demand from an aging population combined with our productive and cohesive team, our leading operator partners and our attractive mix of healthcare, senior living and life science properties will sustain excellence over the long term.

"Looking ahead to 2017, we expect to deliver property cash flow growth, improve our portfolio mix as we substantially exit the skilled nursing business, accelerate our investment in future growth through attractive development and redevelopment projects, particularly in our life science and innovation platform, and enhance our financial strength. These steps will advance our position as the premier capital provider to leading healthcare and senior living providers and research institutions. The outstanding Ventas team is excited to continue its long track record of excellence in 2017 and beyond."

Portfolio Performance

• For the year ended December 31, 2016, same-store cash net operating income ("NOI") growth for the Company's total portfolio (1,038 assets) was 2.7 percent compared to 2015, in-line with previous guidance of 2.5 to 3 percent.
  • At a segment level for the full year 2016: the triple net leased portfolio same-store cash NOI grew 3.7 percent; the seniors housing operating portfolio ("SHOP") grew 2.3 percent; and the medical office building ("MOB") portfolio grew 1.3 percent, all consistent with previous guidance ranges.
• The Company's fourth quarter 2016 same-store total portfolio (1,189 assets) cash NOI growth was 2.9 percent compared to the same period in 2015.
  • At a segment level for the fourth quarter 2016: the triple net leased portfolio same-store cash NOI increased 4.5 percent; SHOP grew 1.1 percent; and the MOB portfolio rose 2.1 percent.

2016 and Fourth Quarter Highlights

• The Company invested approximately $1.6 billion in 2016, including its accretive acquisition of institutional-quality life science and innovation centers leased by leading research universities. Ventas also committed to funding more than $300 million of development and redevelopment projects, including attractive new ground-up life science developments.
• To fund investments and enhance the Company's balance sheet and liquidity profile in 2016, Ventas raised approximately $1.3 billion in aggregate gross proceeds from the sale of 18.9 million shares of common stock at an average gross price of approximately $70 per share; and $850 million in long-term senior notes.
• The Company sold properties and received final repayment on loans receivable in 2016 for proceeds of approximately $620 million, ahead of previously-disclosed guidance of $500 million. Fourth quarter proceeds approached $350 million.
• The Company's credit profile and financial health were outstanding at year end 2016, including:
  • Net Debt to Adjusted Pro Forma EBITDA ratio of 5.7x, compared to 6.1x at year end 2015;
  • 38 percent total indebtedness to gross asset value, an improvement of 4 percentage points year-over-year; and
  • 4.8x fixed charge coverage, an improvement of 0.3x year-over-year.
• The Company currently has over $2 billion of available liquidity.
• Ventas paid its shareholders dividends of $2.965 per share in 2016, with an attractive payout ratio.
• The Company demonstrated its commitment to excellence through strong corporate governance, Board of Directors ("Board") refreshment, director independence and diversity. In 2016 the Board appointed Roxanne M. Martino and Walter C. Rakowich as Ventas directors and James D. Shelton as the Company's independent presiding director.
• Ventas Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Debra A. Cafaro was recognized in 2016 as a top global CEO and a leader in the real estate and healthcare industries, including being named by: Forbes as one of the "World's 100 Most Powerful Women" and first among "Top-Performing Women CEOs, Ranked by Total Return;" the Harvard Business Review as one of "The Best-Performing CEOs in the World," one of only 30 CEOs named to the Harvard Business Review list for three consecutive years and one of only two women on 2016's list; and Modern Healthcare as one of the "100 Most Influential People in Healthcare" for 2016, the third time Ms. Cafaro has received this recognition.

Recent Developments

• The Board declared a dividend for the first quarter 2017 of $0.775 per share, representing a 6 percent increase from the first quarter 2016. The dividend is payable in cash on March 31, 2017 to stockholders of record on March 7, 2017.
• The Company continues to expect to close on its $700 million loan commitment to fund Ardent Health Services' ("Ardent's") acquisition of LHP Hospital Group ("LHP") late in the first quarter of 2017, subject to customary regulatory reviews and approvals. Pro forma for the acquisition, Ardent's leading hospital platform is expected to generate $3 billion in revenues in 6 states.
• In January 2017, the Company sold assets and received final repayment on loans receivable for proceeds of $88 million, primarily comprised of 5 seniors housing communities at a cap rate of 6 percent on a cash and GAAP basis.

2017 Guidance

Ventas expects 2017 income from continuing operations per diluted common share to range between $1.72 and $1.78. The Company expects normalized FFO per diluted common share to range between $4.12 and $4.18, in line with the Company's preliminary outlook provided on January 10, 2017. NAREIT FFO per diluted common share is forecast to range between $4.10 and $4.19.

The Company expects full year 2017 cash NOI growth for the 1,163 assets in the full-year same-store pool to range from 1.5 to 2.5 percent, consistent with the Company's previous outlook. Triple net same-store cash NOI is forecast to grow 2.5 to 3.5 percent driven by lease escalations; SHOP same-store cash NOI is forecast to grow 0 to 2 percent, led by assets in high barrier-to-entry locations; and MOB same-store cash NOI is forecast to grow 1 to 2 percent, supported by new leasing activity.

The Company expects to complete approximately $900 million in strategic dispositions in 2017 (of which $88 million have closed to date), including $700 million in proceeds in the second half of the year through the potential sale of 36 skilled nursing facilities owned by Ventas at a 7 percent cash yield and a gain of over $650 million. Disposition proceeds are expected to be redeployed at approximately the same rate into new 2017 investments approximating $1 billion, principally to scale the Company's life science and acute care hospital platforms, including $700 million in secured debt financing to fund Ardent's acquisition of LHP.

During 2017, the Company also expects to invest in future growth by funding approximately $300 million in development and redevelopment projects, including attractive new ground-up life science developments.

During 2017, the Company expects to refinance approximately $1 billion of current debt and lengthen the Company's weighted average maturity schedule. The 2017 outlook assumes 358.5 million weighted average fully-diluted shares, with no new equity issuance in 2017.

Consistent with its practice, the Company's guidance does not include any further material investments, dispositions or capital activity. A reconciliation of the Company's guidance to the Company's projected GAAP measures is included in this press release.

The Company's guidance is based on a number of other assumptions that are subject to change and many of which are outside the control of the Company. If actual results vary from these assumptions, the Company's expectations may change. There can be no assurance that the Company will achieve these results.

Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2016 Conference Call

Ventas will hold a conference call to discuss this earnings release today at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time (9:00 a.m. Central Time). The dial-in number for the conference call is (844) 776-7841 (or (661) 378-9542 for international callers). The participant passcode is "Ventas." The conference call is being webcast live by NASDAQ OMX and can be accessed at the Company's website at www.ventasreit.com. A replay of the webcast will be available following the call online, or by calling (855) 859-2056 (or (404) 537-3406 for international callers), passcode 50587913, beginning at approximately 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time and will remain for 36 days.

Ventas, Inc., an S&P 500 company, is a leading real estate investment trust. Its diverse portfolio of approximately 1,300 assets in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom consists of seniors housing communities, medical office buildings, life science and innovation centers, skilled nursing facilities, specialty hospitals and general acute care hospitals. Through its Lillibridge subsidiary, Ventas provides management, leasing, marketing, facility development and advisory services to highly rated hospitals and health systems throughout the United States. More information about Ventas and Lillibridge can be found at www.ventasreit.com and www.lillibridge.com.

Supplemental information regarding the Company can be found on the Company's website under the "Investor Relations" section or at www.ventasreit.com/investor-relations/annual-reports---supplemental-information. A comprehensive listing of the Company's properties is available at www.ventasreit.com/our-portfolio/properties-by-stateprovince.

This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements regarding the Company's or its tenants', operators', borrowers' or managers' expected future financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, funds from operations, dividends and dividend plans, financing opportunities and plans, capital markets transactions, business strategy, budgets, projected costs, operating metrics, capital expenditures, competitive positions, acquisitions, investment opportunities, dispositions, merger or acquisition integration, growth opportunities, expected lease income, continued qualification as a real estate investment trust ("REIT"), plans and objectives of management for future operations and statements that include words such as "anticipate," "if," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "could," "should," "will" and other similar expressions are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain, and actual results may differ from the Company's expectations. The Company does not undertake a duty to update these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are made.

The Company's actual future results and trends may differ materially from expectations depending on a variety of factors discussed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These factors include without limitation: (a) the ability and willingness of the Company's tenants, operators, borrowers, managers and other third parties to satisfy their obligations under their respective contractual arrangements with the Company, including, in some cases, their obligations to indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Company from and against various claims, litigation and liabilities; (b) the ability of the Company's tenants, operators, borrowers and managers to maintain the financial strength and liquidity necessary to satisfy their respective obligations and liabilities to third parties, including without limitation obligations under their existing credit facilities and other indebtedness; (c) the Company's success in implementing its business strategy and the Company's ability to identify, underwrite, finance, consummate and integrate diversifying acquisitions and investments; (d) macroeconomic conditions such as a disruption of or lack of access to the capital markets, changes in the debt rating on U.S. government securities, default or delay in payment by the United States of its obligations, and changes in the federal or state budgets resulting in the reduction or nonpayment of Medicare or Medicaid reimbursement rates; (e) the nature and extent of future competition, including new construction in the markets in which the Company's seniors housing communities and medical office buildings ("MOBs") are located; (f) the extent and effect of future or pending healthcare reform and regulation, including cost containment measures and changes in reimbursement policies, procedures and rates; (g) increases in the Company's borrowing costs as a result of changes in interest rates and other factors; (h) the ability of the Company's tenants, operators and managers, as applicable, to comply with laws, rules and regulations in the operation of the Company's properties, to deliver high-quality services, to attract and retain qualified personnel and to attract residents and patients; (i) changes in general economic conditions or economic conditions in the markets in which the Company may, from time to time, compete, and the effect of those changes on the Company's revenues, earnings and funding sources; (j) the Company's ability to pay down, refinance, restructure or extend its indebtedness as it becomes due; (k) the Company's ability and willingness to maintain its qualification as a REIT in light of economic, market, legal, tax and other considerations; (l) final determination of the Company's taxable net income for the year ended December 31, 2016 and for the year ending December 31, 2017; (m) the ability and willingness of the Company's tenants to renew their leases with the Company upon expiration of the leases, the Company's ability to reposition its properties on the same or better terms in the event of nonrenewal or in the event the Company exercises its right to replace an existing tenant, and obligations, including indemnification obligations, the Company may incur in connection with the replacement of an existing tenant; (n) risks associated with the Company's senior living operating portfolio, such as factors that can cause volatility in the Company's operating income and earnings generated by those properties, including without limitation national and regional economic conditions, costs of food, materials, energy, labor and services, employee benefit costs, insurance costs and professional and general liability claims, and the timely delivery of accurate property-level financial results for those properties; (o) changes in exchange rates for any foreign currency in which the Company may, from time to time, conduct business; (p) year-over-year changes in the Consumer Price Index or the UK Retail Price Index and the effect of those changes on the rent escalators contained in the Company's leases and the Company's earnings; (q) the Company's ability and the ability of its tenants, operators, borrowers and managers to obtain and maintain adequate property, liability and other insurance from reputable, financially stable providers; (r) the impact of increased operating costs and uninsured professional liability claims on the Company's liquidity, financial condition and results of operations or that of the Company's tenants, operators, borrowers and managers, and the ability of the Company and the Company's tenants, operators, borrowers and managers to accurately estimate the magnitude of those claims; (s) risks associated with the Company's MOB portfolio and operations, including the Company's ability to successfully design, develop and manage MOBs and to retain key personnel; (t) the ability of the hospitals on or near whose campuses the Company's MOBs are located and their affiliated health systems to remain competitive and financially viable and to attract physicians and physician groups; (u) risks associated with the Company's investments in joint ventures and unconsolidated entities, including its lack of sole decision-making authority and its reliance on its joint venture partners' financial condition; (v) the Company's ability to obtain the financial results expected from its development and redevelopment projects; (w) the impact of market or issuer events on the liquidity or value of the Company's investments in marketable securities; (x) consolidation activity in the seniors housing and healthcare industries resulting in a change of control of, or a competitor's investment in, one or more of the Company's tenants, operators, borrowers or managers or significant changes in the senior management of the Company's tenants, operators, borrowers or managers; (y) the impact of litigation or any financial, accounting, legal or regulatory issues that may affect the Company or its tenants, operators, borrowers or managers; and (z) changes in accounting principles, or their application or interpretation, and the Company's ability to make estimates and the assumptions underlying the estimates, which could have an effect on the Company's earnings.

Historical cost accounting for real estate assets implicitly assumes that the value of real estate assets diminishes predictably over time. However, since real estate values historically have risen or fallen with market conditions, many industry investors deem presentations of operating results for real estate companies that use historical cost accounting to be insufficient by themselves. For that reason, the Company considers FFO, normalized FFO, FAD and normalized FAD to be appropriate supplemental measures of operating performance of an equity REIT. In particular, the Company believes that normalized FFO is useful because it allows investors, analysts and Company management to compare the Company's operating performance to the operating performance of other real estate companies and between periods on a consistent basis without having to account for differences caused by non-recurring items and other non-operational events such as transactions and litigation. In some cases, the Company provides information about identified non-cash components of FFO and normalized FFO because it allows investors, analysts and Company management to assess the impact of those items on the Company's financial results.

The Company uses the NAREIT definition of FFO. NAREIT defines FFO as net income attributable to common stockholders (computed in accordance with GAAP) excluding gains (or losses) from sales of real estate property, including gain (or loss) on re-measurement of equity method investments, and impairment write-downs of depreciable real estate, plus real estate depreciation and amortization, and after adjustments for unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures. Adjustments for unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures will be calculated to reflect FFO on the same basis. The Company defines normalized FFO as FFO excluding the following income and expense items (which may be recurring in nature): (a) merger-related costs and expenses, including amortization of intangibles, transition and integration expenses, and deal costs and expenses, including expenses and recoveries relating to acquisition lawsuits; (b) the impact of any expenses related to asset impairment and valuation allowances, the write-off of unamortized deferred financing fees, or additional costs, expenses, discounts, make-whole payments, penalties or premiums incurred as a result of early retirement or payment of the Company's debt; (c) the non-cash effect of income tax benefits or expenses, the non-cash impact of changes to the Company's executive equity compensation plan and derivative transactions that have non-cash mark-to-market impacts on the Company's income statement; (d) the financial impact of contingent consideration, severance-related costs and charitable donations made to the Ventas Charitable Foundation; (e) gains and losses for non-operational foreign currency hedge agreements and changes in the fair value of financial instruments; (f) gains and losses on non-real estate dispositions and other unusual items related to unconsolidated entities; and (g) expenses related to the re-audit and re-review in 2014 of the Company's historical financial statements and related matters. Normalized FAD represents normalized FFO excluding non-cash components, straight-line rental adjustments and deducting capital expenditures, including tenant allowances and leasing commissions. FAD represents normalized FAD after subtracting merger-related expenses, deal costs and re-audit costs.

FFO, normalized FFO, FAD and normalized FAD presented herein may not be identical to those presented by other real estate companies due to the fact that not all real estate companies use the same definitions. FFO, normalized FFO, FAD and normalized FAD should not be considered as alternatives to net income or income from continuing operations (both determined in accordance with GAAP) as indicators of the Company's financial performance or as alternatives to cash flow from operating activities (determined in accordance with GAAP) as measures of the Company's liquidity, nor are they necessarily indicative of sufficient cash flow to fund all of the Company's needs. The Company believes that income from continuing operations is the most comparable GAAP measure because it provides insight into the Company's continuing operations. The Company believes that in order to facilitate a clear understanding of the consolidated historical operating results of the Company, FFO, normalized FFO, FAD and normalized FAD should be examined in conjunction with net income and income from continuing operations as presented elsewhere herein.