Medical Properties Trust To Buy 30 UK Hospital Facilities For About $2.0 Bln

(RTTNews) - Medical Properties Trust Inc. (MPW) said it agreed to buy the real estate of 30 acute care hospital facilities located throughout the United Kingdom for an aggregate purchase price of about $2.0 billion.

The facilities are leased under long-term inflation protected net leases to affiliates of BMI Healthcare ("BMI"), the largest private operator of acute hospitals in the United Kingdom. In a related transaction, affiliates of Circle Health are to acquire BMI and assume operations of its 52 facilities in the United Kingdom.

Circle Health , an operator of UK acute hospitals and successful MPT tenant, has committed to a multi-million pound program of investment in facility infrastructure, technology and people as part of the transaction.

The hospitals will be leased under a master lease structure guaranteed by Circle with an initial fixed term of 30 years, two 5-year extension options, and annual rent escalators linked to UK consumer price inflation.

MPT expects to fund the acquisition with cash on hand, including proceeds from recent U.S. dollar equity and sterling-denominated bond offerings and borrowings under an unsecured sterling-denominated term loan facility. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2020 subject to customary closing conditions.