Canberra, Australia (CU)_ Australian Unity Healthcare Property Trust – AUHPT runs hospitals, medical clinics, and old age care centers across Australia, including the Edmonton Aged Care Facility in Cairns, Queensland, which belongs to Infinite Care. Following the Canadian-owned real estate giant NorthWest Healthcare’s massive $2.8 billion proposal for the business, AUHPT is doing every possible thing it can to prevent the hungry NorthWest Healthcare acquisition.
AUHPT has refused NorthWest’s fourth proposal of $2.70 per Wholesale Unit, $2.76 per Retail Unit, and $1.69 per Class A Unit, which is a 38 percent premium over the price before NorthWest’s first offer in February and a 21 percent premium over the current price. A NSW Supreme Court injunction has also been obtained by Australian Unity Funds Management (AUFM) to postpone the NorthWest Healthcare convened unitholder meeting set for July 1 in Melbourne. It has been rescheduled for Monday on July 19th at 10 a.m. and will be headed by former ASIC Chair Alan Cameron AO.
In a statement to unitholders, AUFM said, “The Board believes that NorthWest’s proposal materially undervalues AUHPT, having regard to the current and expected future value of the portfolio and the benefits it could deliver to a potential acquirer. Other factors considered by the Board include the nature of AUHPT investors and their desire for long-term returns, the tax implications, and their ability to reinvest proceeds in comparable assets with a similar risk and return profile. AUHPT’s near-term development pipeline, valued at over $1bn, also offers the potential for future upside for unitholders”.
NorthWest Healthcare’s current offer further stated that regardless of whether its bid to purchase AUHPT is successful, it is ready to pay $400 million to obtain units at $2.70 per share. The offer outperformed AUFM’s offer of a $2.60 return, capped at $80 million, to investors who intend to redeem their investment. Disappointed with AUHPT’s denial to sell, NorthWest had called the unitholder meeting after it offered $2.55.
To strengthen its defense, AUFM reached an agreement with ASX-listed Dexus that invested a massive $180 million in a $320 million fundraising introduced for its healthcare property fund. NorthWest has filed a counterclaim in relation to AUFM’s lawsuit concerning the eligibility of AUFM, Australian Unity, and Dexus to vote at the concerned unitholder meeting. NorthWest has also filed a lawsuit in the Federal Court, looking to invalidate the current AUHPT entitlement offer, the wholesale unit placements at a premium to Dexus and Australian Unity Strategic Holdings (AUSH), a wholly owned subsidiary of Australian Unity, as well as the premium cash offer made by AUSH.
