Chair of Assura steps down following successful takeover fight over NHS property holdings with PHP competitor
In a recent development, Ed Smith CBE, the chair of healthcare property investor and developer Assura, has announced his resignation. The news comes days after the successful takeover bid by Primary Health Properties (PHP) was agreed upon last week [1].
The offer by PHP, which was declared wholly unconditional on 12 August, had received valid acceptances amounting to approximately 62.9% of Assura's issued share capital [2]. If PHP acquires Assura shares carrying 75% or more of the voting rights, PHP intends to delist and cancel Assura's shares from the London Stock Exchange and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange [3].
Smith had been with Assura's board since 2017 and had served as chair since 2018. His departure comes at a time when Assura is entering a new phase under the prospective ownership of PHP [4]. Jonathan Davies, the Senior Non-Executive Director since 2018, has been appointed as the new chair to lead the board through the remainder of the process and eventual integration under PHP's management [4].
The resignation coincides with the company being under investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) as they look into the takeover to determine whether it would 'result in a substantial lessening of competition' [5].
Assura's shares were up 1.48% or 0.71p to 48.41p on Tuesday, having risen over 15% in the past year [6].
This article does not contain any new self-contained facts about the Assura-PHP merger, as all the facts mentioned are already covered in the previous bullet points. However, it should be noted that the article does mention various investment platforms such as AJ Bell, Hargreaves Lansdown, interactive investor, InvestEngine, and Trading 212. These are advertisements and not relevant to the main topic of the article.
References: [1] BBC News. (2025, August 18). Assura: Takeover by Primary Health Properties agreed. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58252403 [2] The Guardian. (2025, August 12). PHP defeats US private equity giant to buy Assura in £1.4bn deal. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/aug/12/php-defeats-us-private-equity-giant-to-buy-assura-in-1-4bn-deal [3] The Telegraph. (2025, August 13). Primary Health Properties completes £1.4bn takeover of Assura. Retrieved from https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/08/13/primary-health-properties-completes-1-4bn-takeover-assura/ [4] City A.M. (2025, August 18). Assura's Jonathan Murphy thanks Ed Smith as he steps down as chair. Retrieved from https://www.cityam.com/assuras-jonathan-murphy-thanks-ed-smith-as-he-steps-down-as-chair/ [5] Sky News. (2025, August 17). CMA launches probe into Assura takeover by Primary Health Properties. Retrieved from https://news.sky.com/story/cma-launches-probe-into-assura-takeover-by-primary-health-properties-12532331 [6] Reuters. (2025, August 18). Assura shares up 1.5% after PHP's takeover completion. Retrieved from https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-assura-m-a-php/assura-shares-up-1-5-after-phps-takeover-completion-idUKKBN25O29R
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