Belgian healthcare REIT Aedifica is a step closer to acquiring Finnish peer Hoivatilat, after the preliminary results of its takeover offer showed an acceptance rate of around 90% from the firm's current shareholders.

Hoivatilat

Hoivatilat

The terms of Aedifica's bid for Hoivatilat required more than 50% of all Hoivatilat's issued and outstanding shares to be tendered by January 3.

Provided that the final result of the tender offer confirms the initial findings, Aedifica said it should be able to announce the takeover on or around January 9.

The Brussels-listed firm unveiled plans in November to buy out healthcare specialist Hoivatilat, to spearhead growth into the Nordic region and create a €3 bn sector giant.

According to Aedifica, its voluntary public tender offer for the Nasdaq Helsinki-listed firm comprises an offer of €14.75 per share, equivalent to an equity value of €375 mln, valuing the firm at an enterprise value of €577 mln. Hoivatilat has net financial liabilities of around €202 mln.

Aedifica holds a portfolio of more than 260 sites in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, worth more than €2.3 bn. The REIT has a market capitalisation of €2.6 bn, as of November 1.

Hoivatilat is a Finnish healthcare real estate investment company with a build-and-hold strategy, that focuses on elderly care homes, specialist care homes and children day-care centres. It has an existing portfolio of 127 healthcare properties in Finland, with a committed development pipeline of 55 projects in Finland and Sweden, let to 46 private and public operators. Its weighted average lease term is 13 years.