Assura to raise £330m in share placing

Warrington-based primary care property investor and developer Assura is set to raise £330m with a share placing, to pursue its strongest pipeline of work and acquisitions for five years.

The announcement of the share placing has been perfectly timed to coincide with interim half-year results which show a 76% increase in pre-tax profits to £73.4m (2016: £41.7m).

The placing is partly to fund its £209m as it continues to see opportunities to make further inroads into the primary care property market.

Assura has successfully made £174.1m of acquisitions since March 31 and it has near-term pipeline of acquisitions and developments  of £126m in new acquisition opportunities and £83m of developments.

The group currently has five schemes for development on site with a cost of £34.3m.

In addition it has a further 12 identified development scheme opportunities with a value of £49m which are expected to start within the next 12 months.

Chief executive Jonathan Murphy said: “Primary care remains at the heart of the NHS agenda. With Assura’s development pipeline being the strongest it has been for many years, the anticipated proceeds of this fund raising will allow us to continue investing in the primary health care estate of the future and positions us at the forefront of this opportunity.”

The half-year results to September 30 show a strong balance sheet with a reduced cost of debt and £98m, gross of expenses, raised from an equity placing in June.

Meanwhile, an unsecured revolving credit facility has been increased to £250m at an initial margin of 150bps.