Lancashire hospitals change hands in £347m deal
Two hospitals in Lancashire are among eight assets to be sold by Secure Income REIT to US specialist Medical Properties Trust as part of a wider portfolio deal.
All eight hospitals are let to Ramsay Health Care, and have a current net rent payable of £16m per year. In the North West, Renacres Hospital in Ormskirk and Euxton Hall Hospital in Chorley are included in the deal, valued at £347m.
The other properties to change hands are Ashtead, Berkshire Independent, Mount Stuart, North Downs, Rowley, and Winfield.
The move will see Secure Income REIT reduced its net debt by around £316m, while adding £170m to its uncommitted cash reserves.
The REIT’s chairman Martin Moore said: “We believe that shareholders are best served by our active approach to portfolio management, recycling capital where it is prudent and advantageous to do so. This attractive offer, which represents a 19% premium above the December 2018 valuation, allows shareholders to realise some upside while still retaining a core holding of 11 high-quality acute hospitals, worth £643 million at their 31 December 2018 valuations, let to Ramsay Health Care Limited, one of the world’s largest private healthcare companies.
“We remain alert to opportunities to redeploy the capital raised when appropriate and, in the meantime, will top up shareholders’ income returns to the pre-transaction levels.”
