Assura raises ?185m in placing
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Tuesday 07 Apr 2020
(Sharecast News) - Assura said on Tuesday that it has raised around ?185m in a placing to fund the development and acquisition of a pipeline that will deliver future GP surgery, primary care and community healthcare buildings for the NHS.
The healthcare property developer placed just over 240m new ordinary shares at 77p each. The placing represents a discount of about 7.8% to the closing share price on Monday.
Assura said it is working closely with the NHS and its GP partners to make sure it can best support the health service through the Covid-19 crisis.
Following the deployment of the placing proceeds, the company will have headroom of approximately ?250m to invest in further property additions before its loan-to-value reaches 40%, it said.
Chief executive officer Jonathan Murphy said: "The importance of the NHS to society has never been more apparent than it is now in dealing with Covid-19. Assura has been doing all we can to support the health service and our GP partners where possible, such as assisting occupiers to optimise the use of space in their buildings and offering any vacant space to the NHS.
"Our predictable business model demonstrates our resilience in these uncertain times with no change to the current business plan, rent collection in line with normal patterns, a strong weighted average unexpired lease term of 11.6 years and a consistent dividend policy. Our strong financial position allows us to deliver on our ongoing growth trajectory in order to continue to provide the NHS with modern, fit for purpose buildings."
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