Assura accepts £1.6bn merger offer from KKR, Stonepeak

(Sharecast News) - UK medical property Assura on Wednesday said it had agreed to a £1.61bn takeover offer from private investors KKR and Stonepeak Partners after rebuffing a lower bid from Primary Health Properties.

The US-based private equity offered 49.4p a share - a 33.5% premium to the closing price on February 13, a day before the first of five bids was disclosed.

Assura shareholders will get 48.56p a share in cash and a quarterly interim dividend of 0.84p each due to be paid on April 9.

"The cash offer from KKR and Stonepeak offers an attractive opportunity for Assura shareholders to crystallise value immediately," said Assura chief executive Jonathan Murphy.

Earlier on Wednesday, Assura rejected a £1.5bn merger proposal from Primary Health Properties, saying it "is not at a level that is sufficient to be recommended to shareholders".

Under the terms of the PHP Proposal, Assura shareholders would receive 0.3848 new PHP shares and 9.08 pence in cash.

In a statement, PHP said it was considering its options and "continues to believe that a combination of Assura and PHP, as set out in its announcement of 3 April would deliver significant strategic and financial benefits for shareholders of both companies".

"The board of PHP will continue its engagement with the Assura board, and its advisers, to explore a possible combination."

It added that it did not agree with the "assertion that the KKR and Stonepeak Cash Offer represents a superior proposal", claiming its offer allows Assura shareholders to benefit from "value accretion, synergies and the ongoing dividend growth that the board of PHP believes will result from a combination of both companies".

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com