Companies: AGR   

Healthcare group Assura is raising £30 million in shares and £50 million debt to fund its conversion into primary and community care.

The fully listed company, which said in August it was heading for a ‘budgeted’ trading loss this year, is responding to the NHS’s shift from hospital-based to ‘community-based’ services with a greater role for private providers by changing from a being medical property investor to developing a string of local ‘GPCos’. To this end, Assura says broker Cenkos Securities has conditionally placed the shares at 37p, while insurer Aviva Group’s Norwich Union arm’s credit committee has approved 11 separate long-tem loans, secured on property assets and developments.

Assura, which awaits results of an independent valuation of its 122 investment properties, suggests values in its sector have suffered less than others from the market downturn. Meanwhile, directors say dividend payments are being suspended, but they hope instead to distribute the net proceeds of property and pharmacy disposals as a special dividend.

Assura shares have dropped all the way from 249.5p last year to 36.25p now, valuing the company at £85.53 millon.

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Assura Group	LSE	£152.38m	48.00p	0.50p
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Other company articles:
Assura in £80m funding			07/10/2008
Assura welcomes NHS changes			06/08/2008
One-offs help Assura			25/06/2008