The Board of Directors of ORPEA Has Decided to Mandate Two Leading Firms to Conduct an Independent Assessment to Shed Light on the Serious Allegations Made Against the Group

PUTEAUX, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regulatory News:

The following is a statement of ORPEA:

ORPEA (Paris:ORP):

We are aware of all the elements of Mr Castanet's book, published today, and of his serious allegations which we treat with the utmost seriousness.

Consequently, the Board of Directors, in agreement with the General Management, announces that it has decided to immediately mandate two recognized firms to carry out an independent assessment of all the allegations reported in this book.

These two firms will have access to all information from ORPEA and its facilities which they deem necessary. Their names will be communicated in the coming days.

They will present their conclusions to the Board of Directors as soon as possible. These findings will also be made available to the competent Authorities and will be the subject of a communication.

We continue to affirm that at no time did the Group's management set up any system to orchestrate the practices of which it is accused.

We remain at the disposal of all the competent Authorities to respond to all their requests.

We would like to reiterate our commitment towards the families, residents and staff, whose concerns, incomprehension and pain over these allegations we understand.

About ORPEA (www.orpea-corp.com)

Founded in 1989, ORPEA is one of the major world leaders in comprehensive long-term care, with a network of 1,156 facilities comprising 116,514 beds (26,359 of which are under construction) across 23 countries, which are divided into five geographical regions:

- France Benelux: 586 facilities/49,207 beds (5,672 of which are under construction)
- Central Europe: 268 facilities/28,419 beds (5,828 of which are under construction)
- Eastern Europe: 142 facilities/15,255 beds (4,101 of which are under construction)
- Iberian Peninsula/Latin America: 158 facilities/23,108 beds (10,373 of which are under construction)
- Rest of the world: 2 facilities/525 beds (385 of which are under construction)

ORPEA is listed on Euronext Paris (ISIN code: FR0000184798) and is a member of the SBF 120, STOXX 600 Europe, MSCI Small Cap Europe and CAC Mid 60 indices.