Assura raises £180m to bolster medical centre acquisitions
ASSURA yesterday tapped investors for £180m through a share placing as it looked to bolster its portfolio of medical centres across the UK.
The firm, which buys premises and leases them back to NHS medical surgeries, intends to raise £155.2m by way of a firm placing and open offer. It is also set to raise up to £25m via an issue of 57.5m new shares.
It will use the proceeds to buy 11 purpose-built medical centres and 13 individual practices on which it has already agreed terms as well as a further seven developments.
Assura also plans to repay around £55m of debt.
Chief executive Graham Roberts said: “An ageing population, increasing expectations and rising long-term health conditions are intensifying demands on the NHS,” adding that staff needed better premises to deal with demand.
BEHIND THE DEAL
LIBERUM CAPITAL | TOM FYSON
1 Fyson joined Liberum in 2009 from Arden Partners’ corporate finance arm where he specialised in UK small and mid cap sectors.
2 He has worked on several AIM and main market deals in his career including Manx Telecom’s £156m flotation in February and P2P Global Investments’s IPO in August.
3 When not at work, the French and Spanish graduate likes to travel to far-off countries, taking his family with him. He is also a keen cyclist.
Also advising…
Fyson worked with Peter Tracey, Liberum’s head of investment banking, Richard Crawley, and Jamie Richards – also in the investment banking team. Oriel Securities also acted on the offer and the placing.