PHP Raises Assura Bid to £1.79 Billion in Latest Fight With KKR
A takeover battle for one of London's healthcare REITs took a new turn after the board switched its recommendation from an all-cash private equity offer to a sweetened one by a listed player.
Assura Plc 's board announced that it was recommending an increased cash and share offer from industry rival Primary Health Properties Plc over a consortium led by KKR & Co. The latest PHP offer valued Assura at roughly £1.79 billion ($2.4 billion).
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Offshore wind will continue to bring 'huge opportunities' for East Anglia
It is shaping up to be an exciting year for ScottishPower Renewables in East Anglia, says Steve Hodger, head of operations and maintenance for the firm's UK offshore wind farms. It's five years since East Anglia ONE (EA1) – our flagship 714MW wind farm, 43km off the Suffolk coast – came into operation amidst a global pandemic. Around 20% of the turbine installation and almost half the turbine connection work for EA1 were completed during lockdown, with ScottishPower and our partners transforming how we worked to get the job done. This included switching to smaller teams, creating crew 'households' who lived and worked together and new welfare protocols – to name just a few – to ensure we completed the project on schedule. READ MORE: Meet the local talent powering offshore wind farm construction It was a completely unprecedented time, and I was so proud of everyone involved as the wind farm came to life and moved into the operations and maintenance (O&M) phase. I've been thinking back to that period as we saw the start of offshore construction for East Anglia THREE (EA3) get underway recently. Unprecedented in a completely different way, EA3 will be the biggest offshore wind farm built and operated by ScottishPower and the Iberdrola group – and will be the second largest in the world when it comes into operation. Steve Hodger, head of operations and maintenance for SPR's UK offshore wind farms (Image: SPR) While EA1 was very much a trailblazing project at the time, it's clear to see how much the industry has grown and matured over the last five years alone. Take the turbines on EA3 – at 14.7MW, each of the 95 individual turbines will generate more than double the clean energy produced by an EA1 turbine. With total capacity of 1.4GW, EA3 will produce enough green electricity to power the equivalent of more than 1.3 million homes. The monopiles alone – the first of which can now be seen in the North Sea standing at 83.89m tall, 10.6m in diameter and weighing 1,800 tonnes –can claim a new offshore wind industry record as the largest installed to date from a jack-up vessel in Europe. READ MORE: New offshore charging tech could power electric vessels The skills needed for the industry have also evolved as projects have become larger and technology continues to advance. This means the variety of roles we need to build, operate and maintain our wind farms continues to expand, which makes offshore wind an attractive industry for more people than ever before. It's a fantastic industry, and being involved in delivering homegrown clean, green energy, while building teams of local people working on projects near their homes really matters to me. There are huge opportunities on our doorstep, especially with the plans for our new £8 million O&M base for EA3 – expanding our footprint in Lowestoft and delivering much-needed skilled jobs and investments into local communities, both directly and through our supply chains. These opportunities will only grow as we continue to build the next generation of clean power and operate in the region for decades to come. For more information, visit
CNN
20 minutes ago
- CNN
Venice is wild with rumors over the secretive Bezos-Sanchez wedding
Plagued by the looming threat of disruptive protests, the upcoming Venetian wedding of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and former news anchor and licensed pilot Lauren Sanchez — which is expected to be a lavish, multimillion-dollar affair — may be one of the most anticipated and closely guarded events to be held in the floating city of love. Spokespeople for the couple remain tight-lipped and invited guests have been required to sign NDAs, but a lid cannot be kept on widespread speculation about every detail of the event that is expected to take place this week. At Harry's Bar, a fabled institution that once counted Ernest Hemingway among its customers, the waiters are hoping some of the 200 guests — a mix of A-list celebrities, political dignitaries and powerful business executives — might stop in for one of their famous Bellini cocktails. Whether or not Bezos will bring his yet-unnamed groomsmen there, as George Clooney did when he married Amal Alamuddin in 2014, is anyone's guess. 'We hope so,' one of the waiters told CNN. 'We can't divulge anyone who has made a reservation. We protect the privacy of all of our guests, not just the billionaires.' From the date to the guest list, possible venues and the bridal gown, the rumor mill is spinning at a rapid pace. Proceedings are being overseen by boutique event planners Lanza and Baucina, the Italian duo who transformed Venice's Grand Canal into a red carpet for the Clooneys' glitzy wedding. Protesters believe there's no space for a Bezos wedding in Venice, but the company has insisted that its plans are respectful of the city and the unique set of challenges it faces as one of the most overpopulated tourist sites in Europe. 'Rumors of 'taking over' the city are entirely false and diametrically opposed to our goals and to reality,' they said in a statement shared with CNN. 'From the outset, instructions from our client and our own guiding principles were abundantly clear: the minimizing of any disruption to the city.' The couple is sourcing some 80% of wedding provisions from local vendors, including pastries from the Rosa Salva pastry shop, the oldest in Venice, whose owners told CNN they have been commissioned to create 'about 200 goodie bags.' Murano glassware designer Laguna B also confirmed to CNN that it is creating special party favors. The company declined to share any further details. Veneto regional president Luca Zaia is not concerned about the city's plans to manage the wedding, telling one local paper, 'I repeat, this is a city that handles 150,000 people a day. George Clooney, François-Henri Pinault and Salma Hayek, Alexandre Arnault, Elton John and many others got married here.' He also surmised that the President of the United States, who is scheduled to be in Europe this week for the NATO summit, could conceivably be on the guest list, telling Corriere della Sera, 'Of course, Donald Trump could also come to this wedding.' One imagines that Trump's priorities may have shifted considerably over the weekend. With guests sworn to secrecy about their attendance, Sanchez's very public bachelorette party in Paris last month may offer clues as to who will watch on as she and Bezos say 'I do.' Kim Kardashian, Kris Jenner, Katy Perry, and Eva Longoria all took part in celebrations that included a boat trip along the Seine. Oprah Winfrey, Mick Jagger and Ivanka Trump have also been invited, according to the Associated Press. As is tradition, Sanchez will be keeping details of her wedding gown, and its designer, under wraps until the big day, but close followers of her fashion will know she is a regular wearer of Dolce & Gabbana. Sanchez sat front and center at the Italian house's Alta Moda show in Sardinia last summer as her son Nikko Gonzalez walked the runway, signaling a close relationship with the brand. Others in the running to dress the bride could be the storied house of Oscar de la Renta. Sanchez did not attend this year's Met Gala, but she did notably wear a custom-made gown by the label for her 2024 debut. Around 30 of the city's elite water taxis, out of 280 total, are also thought to be reserved. One taxi driver told CNN he has been booked from June 25th through the 30th for 'a big wedding,' but declined to say more on the subject. Gondolas have also been put on hold, with the city's gondola association confirming they are ready for the event. The city's nine yacht ports have also been booked for the week leading up to the main event. Bezos' $500 million Koru, which is always tailed by the smaller L'Abeona, are both in the Adriatic Sea already, according to the Marine Traffic website. Venice's airspace is closed to drones and non-authorized traffic, but one source told CNN that permission has been granted for private helicopters, particularly for anyone needing special security, such as heads of state. The Marco Polo airport, no stranger to private jet traffic, already has a secluded area with direct access to private water taxis, making it easy for stars to slip into the city unseen. The wedding date itself, by far the most protected detail, still remains unconfirmed and the couple seem hellbent on keeping everyone guessing up until the last minute. A person close to Venice City Hall told CNN that the wedding planners secured a variety of venues over a period of days and will decide what happens where and when based on the most uncontrollable factors — weather and protesters. The wedding is expected to use a small handful of hotels in the city to accommodate guests or host events. One of the most talked-about possible venues is the Cini Foundation on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, which has hosted everything from G7 events to private concerts. The sculpted gardens and monastery, where monks still pray, sit across the lagoon from the famous Piazza San Marco and would provide an intimate setting ideal for a dinner. Building work being carried out in mid-June looked suspiciously like a set being built — perhaps for a wedding concert? The Aman hotel on the Grand Canal, where the Clooneys chose to wed, has also been mentioned as a potential location. Another top contender is the Scuola Grande della Misericordia, a 16th-century armory that would be perfect for the ceremony itself — although it is more vulnerable to protesters, who have already threatened to block the canals if the wedding party tries to reach the venue. Interestingly, a rather wedding-esque gazebo has been erected next to the Excelsior Hotel on the Venice Lido, a stone's throw from where the Venice Film Festival is held each year. But, as with the rest of the venues, nothing is confirmed.
Washington Post
22 minutes ago
- Washington Post
NATO leaders are set to agree a historic defense spending pledge, but the hike won't apply to all
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — NATO leaders are expected to agree this week that member countries should spend 5% of their gross domestic product on defense, except the new and much vaunted investment pledge will not apply to all of them. Spain has reached a deal with NATO to be excluded from the 5% of GDP spending target , while President Donald Trump said the figure shouldn't apply to the United States, only its allies.
