11 June 2025
If you are covering KKR and Stonepeak’s increased off for Assura, please see the following comment from Oli Creasey, head of property research at Quilter Cheviot:
KKR and Stonepeak have come back to the table with a higher cash bid for Assura that narrowly outbids the recent offer from Primary Health Properties. PHP last month confirmed an offer of cash and shares which, as of yesterday’s close price, values Assura at 50.2p. KKR has now returned with an all-cash offer of 50.42p, less than 0.5% higher.
KKR’s statement continues to include historic dividends when calculating the total value of its offer, methodology that most market commentators consider to be flawed, given both of the distributions in question are already ex-div for existing shareholders, and one was paid out in early April. As such, we would caution shareholders that the headline figure of 52.1p from KKR does not represent the cash amount that would be received if the offer was accepted.
Shareholders are now left with a tricky decision. The KKR bid is marginally higher than PHP’s at current prices, and being all cash, gives higher certainty of what the final outcome will be. The value of PHP’s bid is largely dependent on the company’s share price and is likely to move up or down in the period between now and any deal closing (we note that PHP shares are +7% year-to-date, though past performance is no guarantee of future returns). Finally, investors must give due consideration as to whether they want cash in hand or to retain exposure to the equity market in the primary health sub-sector, and whether the additional 0.2p per share is sufficient compensation for losing that exposure.
