KKR presses Assura board as CMA probes PHP's £1.79B NHS landlord bid
What's the deal? The takeover battle for AssuraDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the NHS landlord, has intensified. US private equity firm KKR is lobbying Assura's board to accept its £1.696bn cash offer, while the Competition and Markets Authority steps up its investigation into a rival bid from UK healthcare investor Primary Health PropertiesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → (PHP).
Who's involved? Assura, founded in Altrincham in 2003 and listed on the FTSE 250, owns 603 properties housing doctors' surgeries and hospitals serving over 6 million patients, many rented to the NHS. Its rental income rose 16.6% to £167m last year, with pre-tax profit of £166m. PHP, which invests in buildings housing GP practices, owns 516 properties in the UK and Ireland valued at £2.8bn.
Where things stand: PHP won Assura's board backing in June 2026 for its cash-and-shares offer, worth £1.79bn at the time, after a lengthy contest with KKR. Assura said its directors still believe the PHP offer is in shareholders' best interests.
Why the CMA matters: The regulator served an initial enforcement order, blocking PHP from fully integrating Assura while it weighs whether the deal would substantially lessen competition. KKR, bidding alongside Stonepeak PartnersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, argues its offer raises no competition concerns, whereas a PHP-Assura merger would likely require asset sales.
What shareholders say: Long-term investors including SchrodersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Aberdeen InvestmentsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → back PHP. Panmure Liberum analyst Bjorn Zietsman called the PHP offer "the superior choice for shareholders," saying it would create a UK market leader in primary healthcare real estate. Shore Capital's Andrew Saunders said PHP remains well placed to clear the 50% acceptance hurdle.
The signal: The clash pits certainty against strategic upside. KKR offers clean cash and fewer regulatory hurdles; PHP offers scale and a market-leading platform, but faces a CMA cloud. With a deadline looming, Assura shareholders must weigh a smoother deal against the promise of a bigger one.
Read more: BritBrief
Image credit: Futurilla
