The chair of healthcare property investor and developer Assura has resigned, the company announced on Tuesday.
Ed Smith CBE, non-executive chair of Assura, informed the listed company that he was resigning with immediate effect.
The offer for Assura by PHP was declared wholly unconditional on 12 August, and ‘currently remains open for acceptance until further notice’, Assura said on Tuesday.
If PHP acquires Assura shares carrying 75 per cent or more of the voting rights of Assura, PHP intends to procure the delisting and cancellation of trading of Assura’s shares from the London Stock Exchange and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
Smith joined the company’s board in 2017 and was appointed chair in 2018.
Quit: The chair of healthcare property investor and developer Assura has resigned
Assura said Smith had provided ‘critical’ oversight of its strategy and governance, building on his experience in business and the health and public sectors.
The company’s board of directors has appointed its senior non-executive director, Jonathan Davies, as chair.
Jonathan Murphy, Assura’s chief executive, said: ‘We sincerely thank Ed for his huge contribution to the success of Assura over the past seven years. His guidance and support to me and the wider team has been invaluable. I know that I can speak for everyone in Assura in wishing him all the best for the future.’
Davies, said: ‘It has been a great privilege to work alongside Ed during all of his term as Chair and I now look forward to leading the Board during the CMA process.’
Earlier this month, PHP defeated a US private equity giant in the battle for control of GP surgery owner Assura.
Shareholders backed PHP’s £1.8billion takeover of Assura, despite KKR’s plea last week for the board to reconsider.
Investors owning nearly 63 per cent of Assura’s shares had voted in favour of the merger by the afternoon of 12 August, making the offer ‘unconditional’.
The vote ended a long-running tussle to buy the NHS landlord, which also owns surgeries and hospices.
PHP, which invests in buildings housing GP practices, has been prevented from fully integrating Assura by the Competition and Markets Authority while it scrutinises the takeover.
The watchdog said it had served an initial enforcement order on the two businesses after launching an investigation into the takeover earlier thus year to determine whether the deal would ‘result in a substantial lessening of competition’.
FTSE 250-listed Assura was founded in Altrincham in Greater Manchester in 2003.
Assura shares were up 1.48 per cent or 0.71p to 48.41p on Tuesday, having risen over 15 per cent in the past year.
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