After a longstanding bidding war between Primary Health Properties and private equity group KKR for the healthcare real estate investor Assura, PHP prevailed in securing acceptances from shareholders representing 62.93% of Assura’s share capital.
This meant its offer of $1.79bn to takeover the company is now unconditional.
As an investor in both Assura and PHP, TR Property Investment Trust publicly stated their intention to back this merger, with fund manager Marcus Phayre-Mudge providing comment to several media publications on the matter, and its importance for the wider REIT industry.
Marcus commented: “The Assura-PHP merger should prove a textbook example of how public-to-public consolidation can create scale, lower costs, and keep specialist, income-generating property accessible to everyday investors. The combined entity will be a larger, more liquid company with a proven management team.
“The conclusion of this bidding war shows that REIT boards still have agency and can push back against the tide of take-privates even as private capital aggressively circles discounted assets. This deal also demonstrates how private equity can play a constructive role – rattling cages, sparking competitive bids, and ultimately securing better terms for shareholders.”
For further details, you can read the full articles from The Times, Bloomberg, Property Week, Investors’ Chronicle and Estates Gazette.
The value of your investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you originally put in. Approved by Columbia Threadneedle Management Limited on 02/08/2025
