Healthcare property group Assura has received a non-binding proposal from KKR and Stonepeak Partners, offering 49.4p per share.
This offer represents a premium of 31.9% on the closing share price of 37.4 pence on February 13, valuing Assura's share capital at approximately £1.6bn, as reported by .
Following this news, Assura's share price surged by 14.17%, reaching 46.5p per share.
The board of Assura indicated that they are likely to recommend the offer to shareholders and will engage in discussions with KKR and Stonepeak.
This marks the fifth offer made by KKR to Assura since last September. The most recent offer was in February, when it received an offer from KKR and USS Investment Management, which was rejected for being too low.
Assura also announced today that it has turned down an offer from Primary Health Properties at 43p per share. AJ Bell analyst Russ Mould commented: "[The higher offer than in February] implies that KKR is prepared to do whatever it takes to secure the deal," and "The fact Assura's share price at 46.48p is trading below KKR's latest proposal implies the market doesn't believe Primary Health Properties is going to come back with a significantly better offer."
He added: "It also suggests scepticism that the new KKR proposal is a done deal. The 31.9 per cent bid premium is significantly below the 47 per cent average for º£½ÇÊÓƵ takeovers in 2024, meaning Assura's shareholders might feel they aren't being compensated adequately."
"After all, they would be giving up an investment that could generate much greater returns over time," Mould added. Analysts at Panmure Liberum have rated Assura's stock as a 'Buy' yet noted that the increased bid "doesn't materially change our view that these levels are still insufficient to compensate equity holders for giving up a company with these long-term growth prospects."
