KKR’s 10-Month Pursuit of UK Landlord Set for Final Showdown (1)

About 10 months after KKR & Co. first came knocking, the fate of the UK’s largest publicly traded health-care landlord is about to be decided, with the outcome on a knife edge and implications that could extend far beyond a single takeover battle.

Shareholders of Assura Plc have until August 12 to decide between the much sweetened cash offer from a re-jigged consortium that now includes Stonepeak Partners alongside KKR, or else follow management’s recommendation to accept the cash and share bid from rival landlord Primary Health Properties Plc.

The battle has become a referendum on the UK’s unloved ...