KKR and Stonepeak agree $2.29bn deal for Assura

August 2025 | DEALFRONT | PRIVATE EQUITY & VENTURE CAPITAL

Financier Worldwide Magazine

August 2025 Issue

A private equity consortium led by KKR and Stonepeak has agreed to acquire National Health Service (NHS) landlord Assura in a deal valued at $2.29bn.

Assura has recently been at the centre of a bidding war, with the KKR-Stonepeak consortium competing against Primary Health Properties (PHP), which submitted a bid of approximately 51.7p per share in late May. KKR criticised PHP’s proposal, describing it as fraught with “numerous critical issues” that could “significantly increase the financial risk profile of the combined entity” and potentially trigger a competition enquiry. PHP responded that it “strongly disagrees” with Assura’s assessment and was reviewing its options.

In April, Assura had backed an earlier cash offer from KKR and Stonepeak, prompting PHP to raise its bid in May. Some analysts viewed PHP’s offer as more attractive due to its combination of cash and stock, and the opportunity to own social healthcare assets through a UK-listed public limited company.

However, Assura has now approved the latest all-cash offer from Sana Bidco, a joint venture between KKR and Stonepeak. The offer values the company at 52.1p per share, exceeding its closing price of 48.58p on Tuesday 10 June, the last trading day before the announcement.

Under the terms of the deal, Assura shareholders will receive 50.42p in cash per share and retain the quarterly dividend of 0.84p paid on 9 April, as well as the upcoming dividend of 0.84p due on 9 July 2025. The total implied value of 52.1p per share includes these dividends and values Assura’s fully diluted share capital at approximately £1.68bn. This represents a 4.7 percent premium over KKR’s previous offer of 49.4p.

Following the acquisition, Assura will join a growing list of companies exiting the stock market in 2025. This trend follows a wave of tech-sector buyouts in early June, during which three multibillion-pound mergers and acquisitions were announced by US firms targeting undervalued UK businesses.

Assura manages more than 600 healthcare properties with a combined investment value exceeding £3bn and counts the UK’s state-backed NHS among its key tenants. The Altrincham-based company stated that the takeover would benefit the NHS by providing access to new capital and enabling greater investment in healthcare infrastructure, free from the constraints of public market expectations.

The acquisition is structured as a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement, a common method for large-scale M&A transactions that requires approval from shareholders and the court.

KKR and Stonepeak initially agreed takeover terms with Assura in April, but PHP subsequently announced its intention to make a competing share-and-cash offer for the company’s entire issued and to-be-issued share capital.

However, Ed Smith, non-executive chair of Assura, confirmed that the board had ultimately favoured the KKR-Stonepeak bid. “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,” he said. “KKR and Stonepeak are highly experienced investors in healthcare and infrastructure and I am confident that with their support, and the additional capital they will provide, Assura will continue to deliver the high-quality healthcare infrastructure our communities need.”

“After nearly a year of engagement, this is our best and final offer, which we believe is lower risk than other alternatives and higher in value, offering a significant premium,” said Andrew Furze, managing director at KKR. “We require no disposals to achieve our ambition and importantly the all cash offer poses minimal execution risk.”

Richard Summerfield