After missing a self-imposed December 15 deadline for an independent committee of the board of Sunrise Senior Living to complete its review of the accounting restatement and alleged insider trading and option pricing issues, on December 18 the company announced that the committee’s investigation had been completed and that its work was being considered by the independent members of the board.  The actions the company will take, if any, will be announced “in due course.”  The shares of Sunrise hit a 52-week low of $26.78 just before the announcement was made, and have rallied a bit since then, but investors’ confidence has been shaken a bit, and patience has been in short supply.  This is a price level not seen since mid-2006 after the accounting restatement problem was first disclosed.  I can only guess that management and the board want to get it right the first time, so we assume they are being overly cautious.  How long it will take the independent directors to review the conclusions is anyone’s guess, but with the holidays coming up, we don’t expect anything until next year.  Investors really want to know what is happening with the company’s “strategic alternatives” review, but there hasn’t been a peep about that for quite a while, and may not be for quite a while longer.

Speaking of losing patience, after being forced to sit through a six-hour hearing in West Virginia last Friday regarding its certificate of need application in the sale of Manor Care to The Carlyle Group, Manor Care’s management has had it.  The West Virginia Health Care Authority previously approved the transfer of Manor Care’s seven facilities in the state last October 19, but the SEIU stuck its nose in and asked the Authority to stay its decision, all part of the union’s attempt to disrupt the sale of the company.  As far as we know, this is the only thing keeping the sale from going through, and if the Authority can dissolve the stay this week, which it should, the sale may go through by year end.  It looks like the lawyers will be busy next week and will miss the record amounts of snow in many of the ski areas.  There’s always the Bahamas in January.  Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.