Private equity firms KKR (KKR.N), opens new tab and Stonepeak Partners raised their offer for Britain's Assura on Wednesday to almost 1.7 billion pounds ($2.3 billion), topping a rival bid with their "best and final" offer for the healthcare real estate investor. The 52.1 pence a share offer, including dividends, trumps the 51.7 pence proposed by rival suitor Primary Health Properties (PHP.L), opens new tab last month. Keep up with the latest medical breakthroughs and healthcare trends with the Reuters Health Rounds newsletter. Sign up here. It represents a more than 39% premium to Assura's closing price on February 13, the day before KKR and Stonepeak's first approach. The stock has soared 32% since then, giving Assura a market capitalization of 1.6 billion pounds as of Tuesday. Advertisement · Scroll to continue
Report This Ad Assura manages over 600 healthcare properties with an investment value exceeding 3 billion pounds, and counts Britain's state-backed National Health Service as a customer. It joins a growing list of UK companies being bought out by overseas private equity firms or investment companies, attracted by comparatively cheap valuations. The latest all-cash offer "is lower risk than other alternatives" and requires no divestment, KKR Managing Director Andrew Furze said in a statement. In April, Assura had backed KKR-Stonepeak's previous cash offer, prompting a higher bid from PHP last month. Some analysts had said PHP's offer was more attractive as it comprised cash and stock, and provided ownership of social healthcare assets via a public limited company listed in the UK.
