Assura board accepts KKR cash over Primary Healthcare merger deal
The board of Altrincham headquartered healthcare property business Assura has rejected a revised proposal from Primary Health Properties for a share and cash offer and opted to accept KKR’s cash offer for the business.
KKR will pay 49p per share, a premium of 31.9% on the 37.4p per Assura share on 14 February 2025 when the bidding started.
It values Assura at approximately £1,608 million.
Ed Smith, Non-Executive Chair of Assura, said: “The board of Assura is focused on delivering maximum value for Assura Shareholders. The cash offer from KKR and Stonepeak allows Assura Shareholders to realise their investment at an attractive price. At the same time, I am confident that the Company will continue to flourish under the ownership of KKR and Stonepeak. With the benefit of the additional capital that KKR and Stonepeak can provide, Assura will be able to continue to support the NHS and other healthcare providers in delivering improved health outcomes.”
Jonathan Murphy, Chief Executive Officer of Assura, said: “The cash offer from KKR and Stonepeak offers an attractive opportunity for Assura Shareholders to crystallise value immediately and enables the Company to accelerate its growth via additional investment in critical healthcare infrastructure in the UK and Ireland. My team and I look forward to working closely with KKR and Stonepeak in the years ahead.”
Tara Davies, Partner, Co-Head of EMEA and Co-Head of European Infrastructure at KKR, said: “Assura is a market leader in healthcare infrastructure and we share the company’s objective of building best-in-class facilities to support the delivery of national healthcare objectives. Delivering this effectively requires significant investment in Assura’s platform, a long-term perspective and the ability to fund Assura’s growth through long-term and flexible capital. Together, KKR and Stonepeak bring deep pockets and understanding of UK infrastructure and real estate, and a shared track record of accelerating growth and investment.”
At 07:00 Assura said the PHP Proposal, for which Assura shareholders would receive new PHP shares and 9.08p in cash for each Assura share was “not at a level that is sufficient to be recommended to shareholders. The Board has therefore rejected the PHP Proposal unanimously.”
At 07:27 it released news that it had accepted the KKR deal.
Last week, Primary Healthcare Properties upped its bid for Assura, telling shareholders they can vary the amounts of PHP shares and cash in an audacious merger proposal and that a merger healthcare property business would be a far better business than selling out to private equity.
PHP also maintain that the cash offer will be fully financed through new third-party debt, implying it would be cheaper to service that debt than the KKR offer.
Analysts from AJ Bell and Panmure Liberum also appeared to back the PHP proposal.
