A company that owns hundreds of GP surgery premises has agreed to a £1.6bn takeover by two US private firms.
Property investor and developer Assura, which currently owns 603 buildings with the vast majority being GP practices, announced today that it has reached an agreement for a cash acquisition of its shares by US investment firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) and Stonepeak Partners LP.
The buyers said ensuring Assura’s current GP practices ‘continue to fulfil an essential service to communities’ will be ‘more effectively and more sustainably achieved’ in private ownership.
As of 2024, the company’s total rental income from GP surgeries, which have a combined patient list of over six million, was £87.3m – making up just under 50% of its total rental income.
Each Assura shareholder will be entitled to 49.4 pence per share, equating to a total share capital of approximately £1.608bn.
KKR and Stonepeak have formed a new company, Bidco, in order to purchase Assura.
In an joint announcement today, the companies said: ‘The boards of directors of Assura and Bidco are pleased to announce that they have reached agreement on the terms of a recommended cash offer for the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of Assura by Bidco.’
Assura’s non-executive chair Ed Smith said: ‘With the benefit of the additional capital that KKR and Stonepeak can provide, Assura will be able to continue to support the NHS and other healthcare providers in delivering improved health outcomes.’
Stonepeak’s senior managing director Nikolaus Woloszczuk said that Assura’s primary care premises ‘play an important role in the provision of healthcare services across the country’.
He added: ‘Ensuring that these assets can continue to fulfil an essential service to communities, now and in the future, is a core focus of the consortium and we believe this will be more effectively and more sustainably achieved in private ownership.’
As part of the Autumn Budget last year, the chancellor announced a £100m capital funding pot which is ‘earmarked’ for 200 GP estates upgrades.
The RCGP has previously called on the Government to invest £2bn into GP premises, after a survey found that 40% of GP staff think their premises are ‘not fit for purpose’.
In 2023, a US healthcare company bought leading GP IT supplier EMIS in a £1.2bn deal after it received the official go ahead from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
And that same year, US medical insurance giant Centene sold Operose Health – which runs nearly 60 GP practices – to HCRG Care Group, as part of a move to exit the UK health market.
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These are premises with a guaranteeed income well above market valuations, directly from NHS funding pots supposed to be used for GP service provision, going instead to a private porperty portfolio that will be based overseas and very difficult to persuade to do maintenance, repairs, and upgrades or alterations to suit service delivery needs, but they have guaranteed upwards-only rent reviews which can squeeze dry the incumbent and tied GP provider Practices.
The whole concept is detrimental to patient health.