Ventas Inc. (NYSE: VTR) has partnered with Atria Senior Living Inc. to acquire 100 percent of Atria.

To complete the deal, Ventas acquired 100 percent of private investment funds previously managed by Lazard Frères Real Estate Investors LLC. Those funds own 34 percent of Atria and 3.7 million shares of Ventas common stock. Ventas paid about $242 million for the interest.

Atria owns and operates senior living facilities in more than 27 states.

Atria will continue to manage 118 private-pay senior living communities for Ventas, a real estate investment trust based in Chicago.

Also on Dec. 26, National Health Investors Inc. (NYSE: NHI) paid $20.2 million for an assisted living facility in WIsconsin. 

Ventas has been considered an active acquirer in the healthcare REIT sector throughout 2012. For more information on real estate deals, namely when it comes to healthcare facilities, see “3Qs With ... Jeff Horowitz, Bank of America Merrill Lynch.”  

Real estate