The board of Assura Group (LSE:AGR) has recommended an increased £1.7 billion final takeover offer from private equity groups KKR and Stonepeak, rejecting a rival proposal from Primary Health Properties PLC (LSE:PHP, OTC:PHPRF).
KKR and Stonepeak, through their Sana 'bidco' vehicle, upped their final offer to 52.1p per share in cash, including two 0.84p dividends. This represents a 39.2% premium to the pre-offer price.
After weeks of due diligence into the PHP offer, directors of the healthcare property developer concluded that bid presented "material risks and downsides to Assura shareholders", including over-leverage and uncertainty around planned asset disposals.
The revised offer from Sana will now proceed via a takeover offer, increasing deal certainty, with antitrust clearances already secured in China, Israel and South Korea, Assura said.
Chair Ed Smith said: "The board's decision to recommend the offer from KKR and Stonepeak follows a careful and thorough evaluation of both offers, during which the board has been firmly focused on its fiduciary duty to shareholders."