This report is from this week’s CNBC’s UK Exchange newsletter. Each Wednesday, Ian King brings you expert insights on the most important business stories from the U.K. and other key developments you won’t want to miss. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.
Episodes in which the mighty KKR receives a bloody nose are collector’s items — but we had one in the U.K. last week.
The private equity giant was thwarted in an attempt to buy Assura, a property company that owns more than 600 doctor’s surgeries and medical centers.
Shareholders instead accepted a £1.8 billion ($2.4 billion) rival offer in cash and shares from Primary Health Properties (PHP), a peer of Assura, which now becomes the U.K.’s biggest publicly traded healthcare landlord.
Apart from the novelty of KKR — which had teamed up with Stonepeak, the infrastructure investor — losing this David and Goliath battle, there were several striking elements to the contest, not least that PHP’s takeover still faces scrutiny by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the U.K.’s competition watchdog.
