Assura plans to raise £300m through share issue

PRIMARY care property investor and developer Assura has announced a share issue to raise £300m after expenses to fund further acquisitions and development.

The company said the issue would fund the near term pipeline of acquisitions and developments with a cost of approximately £125m.

It added that, assuming there is full take-up of the offer for subscription, it would use £175m of the proceeds to reduce the group’s borrowings.

This would result in an overall loan to value ratio of around 35%, including the investment in property acquisitions and development spend of the remaining £125m proceeds.

It said the result would be reduced volatility to investors, greater operational flexibility and the potential for a wider refinancing and a significant reduction in weighted average cost of debt resulting from a lower loan to value ratio.

Subject to completion of the share issue, the company said it intends to consider increasing the quarterly dividend by 10% to 0.55p per ordinary Share or 2.20p per ordinary share on an annualised basis, from January 2016.

Graham Roberts, chief executive, said: “Our business is focused on helping the NHS in improving patient care whilst adapting to ever increasing demand from an ageing population and medical progress. Investing in primary care infrastructure is a recognised priority for the NHS and the support from so many institutions in this fund raise sends a clear message that long term investors want to participate in this significant endeavour.”