Assura offloads 12 assets for £25m

(Sharecast News) - Assura announced the disposal of 12 assets for £25m on Thursday, in line with book value, to contribute to a partial repayment of its revolving credit facility. The FTSE 250 real estate investment trust said the disposal was part of its broader programme launched in August, following its £500m acquisition of a private hospital portfolio.

It said it was currently in discussions for further asset disposals worth about £110m, which included both portfolio disposals and transfers into a joint venture partnership.

Assura said it had also identified an additional pipeline of 27 assets with a combined value of around £90m that meet its disposal criteria.

Preliminary work on those potential disposals was underway.

The company said it remained on track with its goal to reduce its net debt-to-EBITDA below 9x and lower its loan-to-value ratio below 45% over the next 18 to 24 months.

An update on the disposal programme would be provided during its half-year results presentation on 14 November.

"I am pleased that we have completed the portfolio sale of 12 assets for £25m in line with book value and illustrating the attraction of our underlying asset class," said chief executive officer Jonathan Murphy.

"Our £500m private hospital portfolio acquisition in August was an important strategic step for Assura becoming a diversified healthcare REIT capitalising on the significant opportunity in the structurally-supported private hospital market.

"The progress on our disposal programme is an important next step in delivering our commitment to reduce leverage following the acquisition."

At 0933 BST, shares in Assura were up 0.3% at 40.52p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.