B

Baroness Merron (Lab)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 25 June 2025

Debate

NHS: Private Equity

Contribution

I understand the noble Baroness’s concern, but perhaps I could assure her and your Lordships’ House that it was decided this week by the board of Assura to recommend to shareholders an offer from Primary Health Properties, which is another UK real estate investment trust, similar to Assura, which is focused on primary healthcare premises. It is the case—or was the case, depending on how you look at it—that there was another bidder for Assura: KKR. As the noble Baroness said, KKR is an American private equity and investment company, but it seems very unlikely to be successful at this stage. The assurance I can give the noble Baroness is that a change in ownership does not affect the legal status of existing lease arrangements. I would also say that the ownership of the general practice estate is very much a mixed model in which GP practice buildings can be leased from a variety of landlords, including companies such as Assura, which actually constitute quite a small proportion of the overall estate.

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