KKR, Stonepeak bid deadline for Assura extended

(Sharecast News) - Assura said on Friday that the deadline by which investment firms KKR and Stonepeak must announce a firm offer for the group has been extended to allow the consortium more time for due diligence. Assura announced on Monday that it was "minded to recommend" an improved, £1.61bn cash takeover proposal from the consortium.

The proposal was improved by 2.9% to 49.4p per share.

Under UK takeover rules, KKR and Stonepeak had until the end of play on Friday to either announce a firm intention to make an offer or walk away. However, this deadline has now been pushed back to 11 April.

Assura said the extension was requested "in order to facilitate ongoing discussions with the consortium and to provide additional time for the consortium to progress its due diligence".

The company also announced on Monday that it had received an indicative, non-binding proposal from Primary Health Properties about a possible all-share combination, which it rejected.

It said the cash offer from KKR was more attractive than the PHP proposal "as it provides shareholders with the opportunity to receive cash consideration at a significantly higher value per share than the proposal from PHP and with materially less risk".