Latest news with #Assura
Reuters
3 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
UK's Assura snubs KKR takevoer bid in support of competing PHP offer
LONDON, Aug 8 (Reuters) - British healthcare real estate investor Assura (AGRP.L), opens new tab said on Friday that it maintains its support for a takeover bid by Primary Health Properties(PHP.L), opens new tab despite rival suitor KKR urging it to back its competing offer. Assura said it was urging its shareholders to vote in favour of PHP's $2.4 billion acquisition offer over the KKR-led bid with Stonepeak Partners. KKR had said earlier in the day that it met with Assura's board in recent days to lobby in favour of its own cash takeover offer. The U.S.-based private equity firm and PHP were locked in a months-long battle for Assura before its board backed PHP's higher bid in June. KKR said a number of factors had since changed, including a decline in the share price of both companies, which has in turn raised the premium of its own cash offer. PHP in a separate statement welcomed Assura's reaffirmation of support for its bid. Britain's competition regulator also said on Friday it was looking into a possible probe into the PHP and Assura deal if it goes through.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Competition watchdog probes takeover of NHS landlord Assura
The competition regulator has stepped up an inquiry into the £1.8billion takeover of NHS landlord Assura as suitors battle for control of the group. Britain's Competition and Markets Authority on Friday said it would investigate PHP's acquisition of its rival real estate investment trust to determine whether it would 'result in a substantial lessening of competition' in the UK market. Both Assura and PHP invest in properties leased out to healthcare organisations, including the National Health Service. Assura owns more than 600 buildings, including doctors' surgeries, with a portfolio valued at about £3.1billion. It has about 80 employees. When the healthcare buildings business backed the PHP bid, it said KKR's lower offer posed 'material risks and downsides' for its shareholders. But KKR said on Friday 'a number of factors have changed' which make PHP's offer less attractive. It claims that its cash offer is now 1.1 per cent higher than PHP's because of a decline in the shares prices of both PHP and Assura in recent weeks. Significantly it also said its offer would result in 'no competition or antitrust risk' and is 'able to provide the strongest ongoing stewardship for Assura, its team and all stakeholders including investing in NHS infrastructure'. The CMA has now served an initial enforcement order to block PHP from fully integrating Assura while it looks into the deal. It launched a consultation last month into PHP's agreed takeover for Assura, in what marked the first step ahead of a formal investigation.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Bidding battle for NHS landlord Assura intensifies as watchdog steps up investigation
The bidding battle for the NHS landlord Assura has heated up after its US suitor KKR lobbied the board to accept its offer, while the competition watchdog stepped up its investigation of Assura's £1.79bn takeover by a rival UK healthcare investor. Primary Health Properties (PHP), which invests in buildings housing GP practices, has been blocked from fully integrating Assura by the Competition and Markets Authority while it looks into the takeover. The watchdog said it had served an initial enforcement order on the companies, after launching an investigation into the takeover last month to determine whether the deal would 'result in a substantial lessening of competition'. PHP won backing from Assura's board in June for the acquisition, after a lengthy bidding war with the New York-based private equity firm KKR. Assura, which was founded in Altrincham in Greater Manchester in 2003, has a market value of £1.6bn. Last August it struck a £500m deal with a Canadian investor to buy 14 private hospitals across the UK, including Cancer Centre London and the Edgbaston hospital in Birmingham. Assura has been buying healthcare properties at a time when the NHS remains under immense pressure to reduce long waiting times for operations and other treatments. It emerged on Friday that KKR has urged Assura's board to back its takeover bid and withdraw its support for PHP's offer. KKR, which is leading the bid with Stonepeak Partners, said it had met the board of Assura in recent days to lobby for its own cash takeover of the company. KKR and PHP were locked in a takeover battle for Assura for months before Assura's board backed PHP's higher bid in June. The US private equity firm argues that a number of factors have changed since Assura threw its support behind PHP's offer, including a decline in the share price of both companies, which it said had raised the premium of its own cash offer. Assura owns 603 properties housing GP practices and hospitals in the UK, which serve more than 6 million patients, and many of which are rented to the NHS. They were valued at £3.1bn at the end of March, up from £2.7bn the year before. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion Its rental income climbed by 16.6% to £167m during the year, as the company raised its rents by 3.2%. This meant it moved into the black with a pre-tax profit of £166m, against a loss of £28.7m the year before. PHP owns 516 properties housing GPs in the UK and Ireland valued at £2.8bn, and made £153.6m in rental income last year. In early June, KKR pulled out of a deal to inject fresh equity into Thames Water, leaving the troubled supplier's future in doubt and increasing the prospects of a temporary nationalisation.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Bidding battle for NHS landlord Assura intensifies as watchdog steps up investigation
The bidding battle for the NHS landlord Assura has heated up after its US suitor KKR lobbied the board to accept its offer, while the competition watchdog stepped up its investigation of Assura's £1.79bn takeover by a rival UK healthcare investor. Primary Health Properties (PHP), which invests in buildings housing GP practices, has been blocked from fully integrating Assura by the Competition and Markets Authority while it looks into the takeover. The watchdog said it had served an initial enforcement order on the companies, after launching an investigation into the takeover last month to determine whether the deal would 'result in a substantial lessening of competition'. PHP won backing from Assura's board in June for the acquisition, after a lengthy bidding war with the New York-based private equity firm KKR. Assura, which was founded in Altrincham in Greater Manchester in 2003, has a market value of £1.6bn. Last August it struck a £500m deal with a Canadian investor to buy 14 private hospitals across the UK, including Cancer Centre London and the Edgbaston hospital in Birmingham. Assura has been buying healthcare properties at a time when the NHS remains under immense pressure to reduce long waiting times for operations and other treatments. It emerged on Friday that KKR has urged Assura's board to back its takeover bid and withdraw its support for PHP's offer. KKR, which is leading the bid with Stonepeak Partners, said it had met the board of Assura in recent days to lobby for its own cash takeover of the company. KKR and PHP were locked in a takeover battle for Assura for months before Assura's board backed PHP's higher bid in June. The US private equity firm argues that a number of factors have changed since Assura threw its support behind PHP's offer, including a decline in the share price of both companies, which it said had raised the premium of its own cash offer. Assura owns 603 properties housing GP practices and hospitals in the UK, which serve more than 6 million patients, and many of which are rented to the NHS. They were valued at £3.1bn at the end of March, up from £2.7bn the year before. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion Its rental income climbed by 16.6% to £167m during the year, as the company raised its rents by 3.2%. This meant it moved into the black with a pre-tax profit of £166m, against a loss of £28.7m the year before. PHP owns 516 properties housing GPs in the UK and Ireland valued at £2.8bn, and made £153.6m in rental income last year. In early June, KKR pulled out of a deal to inject fresh equity into Thames Water, leaving the troubled supplier's future in doubt and increasing the prospects of a temporary nationalisation.
Reuters
3 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
KKR urges UK's Assura board to back its takeover bid over PHP offer
LONDON, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Private equity fund KKR has urged the board of British healthcare real estate investor Assura (AGRP.L), opens new tab to back its takeover bid and withdraw its support for a rival offer from Primary Health Properties (PHP.L), opens new tab. KKR, which is leading the bid with Stonepeak Partners, said in a statement on Friday it had met with the board of Assura in recent days to lobby for its own cash takeover of the company after Assura backed an offer from London-listed PHP in June. The U.S.-based private equity firm and PHP were locked in a takeover battle for Assura for months before Assura's board backed PHP's higher $2.4 billion bid in June. KKR said a number of factors had changed since Assura decided to back PHP's offer, including a decline in the share price of both companies which has raised the premium of its own cash offer.
