Assura recommends KKR and Stonepeak’s final £1.7bn offer

Assura is backing an improved and final £1.7bn (€2bn) offer from KKR and Stonepeak Partners. The decision follows the listed UK healthcare property investor’s review and subsequent rejection of a prior offer from Primary Health Properties (PHP), citing significant financial, execution and integration risks to shareholders.

PHP had made a revised £1.5bn cash-and-share merger proposal to Assura in early April, with an offer that remained below a previous £1.6bn bid from KKR and Stonepeak Partners.

The month before, KKR had teamed up with Stonepeak to make the £1.6bn bid for Assura, after KKR’s previous offer with UK’s Universities Superannuation Scheme, which was 2.9% lower, was rejected the previous month.

PHP announced its firm intention last month to make a share and cash offer for Assura. This prompted Assura to begin due diligence on PHP to assess whether to recommend the offer to its shareholders.

Assura said it has now reached an agreement on the terms of a recommended, “best and final” increased cash offer from KKR and Stonepeak for all of its issued and to be issued ordinary share capital, adding that it considers the terms of the offer to be in the best interests of Assura shareholders as a whole.

Accordingly, Assura directors intend to unanimously recommend that Assura shareholders accept the best and final increased cash offer.

Assura said its board has concluded that the PHP offer presents material financial, execution and integration risks for Assura shareholders which undermine the potential benefits of the proposed combination under the PHP offer.

Ed Smith, non-executive chair of Assura, said: “The board’s decision to recommend the offer from KKR and Stonepeak follows a careful and thorough evaluation of both offers, during which the board has been firmly focused on its fiduciary duty to shareholders.

“KKR and Stonepeak are highly experienced investors in healthcare and infrastructure and I am confident that with their support, and the additional capital they will provide, Assura will continue to deliver the high-quality healthcare infrastructure our communities need.”

London-listed Assura, designs, builds, invests in and manages general practitioner and primary care buildings in the UK. As of the third quarter of last year, the company owned 625 healthcare buildings across the UK and Ireland, valued at £3.2bn.

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