Medical Properties Trust
 | |
| Company type | Public company |
|---|---|
| NYSE: MPW S&P 600 component | |
| Industry | Real estate investment trust Health care |
| Founded | August 27, 2003 |
| Founder | Edward K. Aldag, Jr. |
| Headquarters | 1000 Urban Center Drive Birmingham, Alabama |
Key people | Edward K. Aldag, Jr., Chairman & CEO R. Steven Hamner, CFO Emmett E. McLean, COO |
| Revenue |  $1.544 billion (2021) |
| $656.9 million (2021) | |
| Total assets | $20.519 billion (2021) |
| Total equity | $8.445 billion (2021) |
Number of employees | 86 (2019) |
| Website | www |
Medical Properties Trust, Inc., based in Birmingham, Alabama, is a real estate investment trust that invests in healthcare facilities subject to NNN leases. Its transactions with private equity firms and for-profit operators of health care facilities via leaseback agreements, have enabled private equity and for-profit healthcare providers to buy failing hospitals, burden them with debt and high rent payments, leaving them failing more severely or bankrupt, even as the buyers make a profit.[1][2][3][4]
As of December 2024, the company owned 12 health care facilities in the United States.[5]
The company owns equity interest in several healthcare providers. Current and past investments have included Steward Health Care, Capella Healthcare, Priory Group, and Ernest Health. Between 2017 and 2025 seven hospital operators, including Steward, went bankrupt or failed after the real estate associated with the facilities was sold to MPT.[4]
History
[edit]The company was founded on August 27, 2003.[6] It went public on the New York Stock Exchange via an IPO on July 7, 2005.[7]
In 2005, the company acquired the Northern California Rehabilitation Hospital for $20.75 million[8] and the Chino Valley Medical Center for $21 million.[9]
In 2012, the company acquired Ernest Health in a $400 million transaction.[10]
In March 2016, the company merged its investment in the operations of Capella Healthcare with RegionalCare.[11]
In October 2016, the company invested $1.25 billion in Steward Health Care System.[12] By 2024 Stewart was bankrupt.[4]
In May 2017, the company announced plans to invest $1.4 billion in 10 acute care hospitals and a behavioral health facility.[13]
In August 2019 Medical Properties Trust bought eight U.K. hospitals operated by Ramsay Health Care and 16 hospitals operated by Prospect Medical Holdings. [14] By 2025 Prospect was bankrupt.[4]
In December 2019, MPT announced that it was purchasing 30 acute care hospitals in the U.K. for nearly £1.5 billion and leasing them to Circle Health.[15]
In 2020, MPT invested in Steward, still under the control of Cerberus Capital Management and in financial distress, $400 million, structured as around $200M in a joint venture with Steward executives to buy hospitals in the UK, and around $200M to acquire hospitals in Utah from Steward, which also involved forgiving a mortgage; by this time MPT had invested $4B in Steward and MPT would invest another $600M in Steward by 2024. Steward was MPT's biggest tenant and accounted for around 30% of MPT's rental income.[16][1]
From 2017 to 2021, CEO Edward Aldag’s salary, bonuses and stock awards have totaled around $70 million.[17]
In March 2022, Medical Properties Trust sold a 50% stake in the eight Massachusetts hospitals it had bought from Steward Healthcare System to Macquarie Infrastructure Partners V for $1.7 billion.[1][18]
As Steward continued failing in 2023, MPT cut its quarterly dividend in half, and as Steward headed toward bankruptcy in 2024, MPT's shares fell to around 80% of their highest price in February 2020.[16][19]
Criticism
[edit]Wall Street Journal
[edit]A 2022 Wall Street Journal report claimed that the company engaged in risky acquisitions with tenants who were likely to default on rent payments later while the compensation of executives of the company was partially linked to the volume of acquisitions they could make. MPT responded that it does not directly compensate executives for acquisition volume, and that its compensation plan provides for reducing executive compensation if acquisitions do not increase the company's per-share value.[20]
Business Insider
[edit]In March 2024, Bethany McLean of Business Insider criticized the company, writing that "MPT's hospital investments represent a breathtaking scheme that has decimated healthcare in communities across America."[2] This article mentioned Edward Aldag, who founded MPT and is the current President and CEO. Referring to him, the article states, "Top executives, including Aldag, received hefty bonuses based in part on the dollar volume of transactions they did — meaning the more hospitals they drove into debt, the better."
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Spegele, Brian (February 14, 2022). "How a Small Alabama Company Fueled Private Equity's Push Into Hospitals". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
- ^ a b McLean, Bethany. "Why America's hospitals are on life support". Business Insider. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
- ^ "The real estate company gutting America's hospitals — and making bank". Reveal. 19 July 2025. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
- ^ a b c d Pascus, Brian (30 May 2025). "The Investment Model? Sell Your Hospital to a REIT. The Results?". Commercial Observer. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
- ^ "2024 Annual Report (10K)". SEC Edgar. 2025-03-03. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
- ^ "Prospectus [Rule 424(b)(4)]". Edgar. MPT via SEC. 2005-07-08. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
- ^ Gelsi, Steve (8 July 2005). "Medical Properties Trust IPO prices for Fri. debut". MarketWatch. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
- ^ "Medical Properties Trust acquires California hospital". American City Business Journals. July 18, 2005.
- ^ "Medical Properties Trust acquires another California hospital". American City Business Journals. December 1, 2005.
- ^ "Press release: CORRECTING and REPLACING Medical Properties Trust in $400 Million Transaction with Ernest Health, Inc. to Add 16 Hospitals to Portfolio" (Press release). Business Wire. January 31, 2012.
- ^ "Press release: Medical Properties Trust Agrees to Merge Capella Health Holdings with RegionalCare, an Affiliate of Certain Funds Managed by Affiliates of Apollo Global Management, LLC" (Press release). Business Wire. March 22, 2016.
- ^ Poe, Kelly (September 26, 2016). "Medical Properties Trust buying nine properties for $1.2 billion". The Birmingham News.
- ^ "Press release: Medical Properties Trust, Inc. to Invest $1.4 Billion in Ten Acute Care Hospitals and One Behavioral Health Facility" (Press release). Business Wire. May 19, 2017.
- ^ "Press release: Medical Properties Trust Completes Investments of Approximately $2.0 Billion in Ramsay and Prospect Hospitals". SEC Edgar. SEC. August 26, 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
- ^ "Press Release: Medical Properties Trust Announces £1.5 Billion Acquisition of 30 UK Hospital Facilities". www.sec.gov. MPT via SEC filing. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
- ^ a b Weil, Jonathan (7 May 2024). "The Private-Equity Deal That Flattened a Hospital Chain and Its Landlord". WSJ. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
- ^ ""Less about people and more about profits": Investors' role in next week's closure of San Antonio hospital under scrutiny". CBS News. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
- ^ Mugford, John B. (March 22, 2022). "Transactions: A $1.7 billion hospital portfolio recap". Healthcare Real Estate Insights. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- ^ Edelman, Larry. "Even before Steward went bust, its landlord and financial lifeline paid a steep price - The Boston Globe". Boston Globe. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
- ^ Spegele, Brian (March 31, 2022). "Hospital Deal Gone Bust Puts Real-Estate Firm in Spotlight". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
External links
[edit]- Business data for Medical Properties Trust, Inc.:
