Primary Health Properties plc is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

-based real estate investment trust

Real estate investment trust

A real estate investment trust or REIT is a tax designation for a corporate entity investing in real estate. The purpose of this designation is to reduce or eliminate corporate tax. In return, REITs are required to distribute 90% of their taxable income into the hands of investors...

, specialising in the rental of primary healthcare facilities within the United Kingdom. The company was incorporated in 1995, floated on the Alternative Investment Market

Alternative Investment Market

AIM is a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange, allowing smaller companies to float shares with a more flexible regulatory system than is applicable to the main market....

 in 1996, and listed on the London Stock Exchange

London Stock Exchange

The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...

 in November 1998. The firm switched to Real Estate Investment Trust status when REITs were introduced in the United Kingdom in January 2007. It is one of the smaller REITs on the London Stock Exchange, and the only one focused on the healthcare sector.

Property portfolio

As of the end of 2009, it had a property portfolio of 112 sites, with a further five under construction, worth approximately £340 million. Approximately 80% of this (by building size) was let to GPs, 11% to primary care trusts, and 6% to pharmacies. The bulk of the property was in the south and central part of the country, with 37% of income coming from the South East and London and 25% from the Midlands.

Management and ownership

PHP uses two organisations, J O Hambro Capital Management Limited and Nexus PHP Management Limited (JOHCM and NPM), as joint managers, rather than employing its own administrative staff. NPM is a subsidiary of Nexus Group Holdings, which it holds 6.18% of the voting rights in PHP. A further 5.09% are held by Blackrock Inc., 3.5% by Aberdeen Asset Management

Aberdeen Asset Management

Aberdeen Asset Management plc is an international investment management group, managing assets for both institutions and private investors from offices around the world. Its head office is in Aberdeen, Scotland. The company is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.-History:The company was...

, and 3.08% by Legal & General

Legal & General

Legal & General Group Plc , commonly known as Legal & General, is a multinational financial services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Its products include life insurance, general insurance, pensions and investments. It has operations in the United Kingdom, Egypt, France, Germany,...

. Both of the managing companies have representation on the board; the managing director is also the managing director of Nexus Group Holdings, and the chairman of J O Hambro Capital Management Group is a non-executive director of PHP.