UK health investor targets Ireland after raising €33m
UK firm Primary Health Properties has renewed a £75m (€84.3m) facility with insurer Aviva and a new £30m (€33.7m) revolving credit facility with Lloyds, with plans to use the finance for more acquisitions in the UK and Ireland.
Last month, the company agreed to pay €20m to buy a large primary healthcare facility in Cork.
Primary Health Properties said the renewal of the £75m facility with Aviva extends its duration to almost another 11 years, at an interest rate of 3.1pc.
The existing Aviva facility is set to mature next November, and carries a 4pc interest rate.
Primary Health Properties said the reduced rate will save it £675,000 a year in interest.
The £30m facility agreed with Lloyds is for an initial three-year period, with an option to extend it by a further two years. It may be drawn in either sterling or euro.
Primary Healthcare said the Lloyds facility will be used to fund further acquisitions in the UK and Ireland.
Harry Hyman, CEO of Primary Health Properties (PHP), said that the new facilities demonstrate the company’s continued ability to secure longterm funding from a variety of sources.
“We will use the funds to progress our long-term strategy of growing PHP’s portfolio through the acquisition of well-priced, modern primary healthcare assets that will provide strong income returns and the potential for asset growth whilst maintaining a prudent level of gearing,” he said.
The facility that PHP bought last month in Cork is one of the largest in the country, extending over 6,500 sq m.
The HSE has committed to a new 25-year lease at the facility, and will account for about 65pc of the property’s rent roll.
The remainder of the rent roll will be generated from four separate GP practices, as well as a dentist, optician and physiotherapist.
The acquisition was the third made by PHP in Ireland to date.
In March last year, it contracted to fund and acquire a purpose-built primary healthcare centre, in Carrigaline, Co Cork, for a total cost of €7.3m.
More than 75pc of the rent roll at the new, 2,900 sq m facility will be generated from the HSE.
Mr Hyman indicated in 2016 that PHP intended to invest between €100m and €150m in Ireland.
‘We will use the funds to grow PHP’s primary healthcare assets’