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TOLEDO, Ohio--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Health Care REIT, Inc. (NYSE:HCN) today announced the pricing of its underwritten public offering of $287.5 million (11.5 million shares) of 6.50% Series J Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock. The offering was increased in size from $100 million (4.0 million shares) in response to investor demand. The shares of preferred stock have a liquidation value of $25.00 per share. The preferred stock, which has no stated maturity, may be redeemed by the company at par on or after March 7, 2017.

The company intends to use the net proceeds from this offering to redeem all of its Series D and Series F Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock and may use any remaining proceeds for general corporate purposes, including investing in health care and seniors housing properties. Pending such use, the net proceeds may be invested in short-term, investment grade, interest-bearing securities, certificates of deposit or indirect or guaranteed obligations of the UnitedStates.

BofA Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, UBS Investment Bank and Wells Fargo Securities acted as joint book-running managers for the offering.

A copy of the prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus related to the offering may be obtained by contacting BofA Merrill Lynch, Attn: Prospectus Requests, 100 West 33rd Street, 3rd Floor, NY, NY 10001; Morgan Stanley, 180 Varick Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10014, Attn: Prospectus Department, telephone (866) 718-1649, or by email to [ prospectus@morganstanley.com ]; UBS Investment Bank, Attention: Prospectus Specialist, 299 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10171, or by telephone toll free at 877-827-6444, ext. 561 3884; Wells Fargo Securities, Attention: Capital Markets Client Support, 1525 West W.T. Harris Blvd., NC0675, Charlotte, NC 28262 or (800) 326-5897 or email a request to [ cmclientsupport@wellsfargo.com ].

This press release is not an offer to sell, nor a solicitation of an offer to buy securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which the offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such state or jurisdiction.

About Health Care REIT, Inc. Health Care REIT, Inc., an S&P 500 company with headquarters in Toledo, Ohio, is a real estate investment trust that invests across the full spectrum of seniors housing and health care real estate. The company also provides an extensive array of property management and development services. As of December 31, 2011, the companyas broadly diversified portfolio consisted of 937 facilities in 46 states.

Forward-Looking Statements

This document may contain aforward-lookinga statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When the company uses words such as amay,a awill,a aintend,a ashould,a abelieve,a aexpect,a aanticipate,a aproject,a aestimatea or similar expressions, it is making forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties. The companyas expected results may not be achieved, and actual results may differ materially from expectations. This may be a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, those factors discussed in the prospectus supplement and related prospectus and in the company's reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Completion of the proposed offering is subject to various factors, including, but not limited to, customary closing conditions. The company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements.