Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR), the private equity firm, is bidding to take over Assura plc, the UK-based healthcare real estate investment trust that manages the NHS property estate.
KKR was one of the consortium members bidding for Thames Water – until it decided against it.
Opposition to bid
Assura shareholders, which include some of our biggest FTSE 250 companies, are in favour of a bid from the UK company Primary Health Properties.
Keeping the company that manages the NHS real estate in the UK and on the London Stock Exchange has both patriotic and economic drivers.
The London Stock Exchange has been hit by the numbers of companies leaving to become listed on the New York Stock exchange where they believe there will be fewer restrictions.
Viewpoint: Make patriotism great again
Why do we continue to allow foreign companies to run our critical infra and services?
A lack of patriotism is perhaps to blame. Britain should prioritise protecting and prioritising our own businesses, and that includes making sure they stay under British control. Belief in our future economic sustainability will only be further dented by taking away any controls we might have.
British Steel may once have been an industrial behemoth but here we are, 37 years on, picking up the tab for a failed pass the parcel strategy by Chinese owners who, inevitably, were acting in the interests of the Chinese government.
Thirty-six years ago, we privatised water and as a result customers are facing massive rises in rates to fund infrastructure improvements that should have been paid for before dividends and executive compensation.
The political and economic uncertainty that results from a ‘smash and grab’ approach to our industry will keep us well out of the world stage if we let it continue.
