Acquisition of 32 medical centres for ?62.5m

RNS Number : 6836N

Assura Group Limited

11 September 2013

 



11 September 2013

Assura Group Limited

Acquisition of 32 medical centres for £62.5 million

Assura Group Limited ("Assura"), the UK REIT⁽¹⁾and leading primary care property investor and developer is pleased to announce that it has acquired the entire issued share capital of Trinity Medical Properties Limited and Trinity Medical Developments Limited (together "Trinity").

Trinity owns 32 modern high quality medical centres. The portfolio benefits from high standards of both build quality and maintenance, and has a rent roll of £4m with a weighted  average unexpired lease term of 16.2 years.  It is let to GPs, NHS Bodies and pharmacy operators on industry standard open market rent review terms, which provide an excellent covenant and exposure to future rental growth.

The portfolio has been acquired for a total cost of £62.5m, which, with passing rents of £4m, equates to a rental yield of 6.40% and increases Assura's contracted passing rent by over 10%.

Trinity's audited results for the year to 31 March 2013 showed an annual profit before and after tax of £0.7m and £0.6m respectively.  As a qualifying REIT Assura is exempt from tax both on the profits of the Trinity business and on a latent capital gains liability of about £2m. 

Assura expects to deliver overhead savings of £0.1m and estimates a reduction in the interest charge arising on consolidation to be £0.1m ⁽²⁾. The resultant pro-forma annualised underlying profit improvement when Trinity is consolidated is therefore expected to be approximately £0.9m.

The overhead savings will be delivered by managing the enlarged portfolio with the existing asset management team at Assura. 

The consideration for the transaction is £6.9m in cash for the equity of the acquired businesses, which is after a provision of £1.7m to allow for the potential re-financing costs of the debt.  Assura is assuming  Trinity's existing debt of £52.1m, other short term creditors of approximately £1.4m and expects to incur transaction costs of £0.4m.  Therefore the total cost of the transaction is £62.5m.  The provision for potential re-financing costs represents the full costs of re-pricing the debt to current market rates at today's date and provides Assura with the flexibility to re-price or redeem efficiently in the future.  The Trinity debt currently has an average maturity of 12.6 years and an average fixed interest rate of 5.6%. 

Including the Trinity portfolio, Assura's core portfolio stands at 197 primary care properties with a contracted passing rent of £40.7m.

Commenting Graham Roberts, Chief Executive of Assura said:

"We are delighted to have acquired such a high quality portfolio of 32 medical centres, which increases our passing rents by over 10% with income underpinned by the NHS for an average unexpired lease length of over 16 years.  The acquisition will allow us to further enhance our outperformance of the sector, and illustrates the incremental returns our internally managed model can deliver from growth in our portfolio."

- Ends -

Note

(1): Real Estate Investment Trust

(2): Adjustment arising from the estimated reduction in Trinity's UK GAAP interest cost when stated on an IFRS basis

For more information, please contact:

Assura Group Limited	Tel: [phone]
Graham Roberts Carolyn Jones
Oriel Securities Limited	Tel: [phone]
Mark Young Roger Clarke
Liberum Capital Limited Steve Pearce Tim Graham	Tel: [phone]
RLM Finsbury	Tel: [phone]
Gordon Simpson

Notes to Editors

Assura Group is a long-term investor in and developer of primary care property.  The company, headquartered in Warrington and listed on the London Stock Exchange, works with GPs, health professionals and the NHS to create innovative property solutions in order to facilitate delivery of high quality patient care in the community.  At 31 March 2013, Assura Group's property portfolio was valued at £569m.

Further information is available at www.assuragroup.co.uk 

 

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