BIRMINGHAM, AL-Medical Properties Trust Inc. is making a public offering of 12 million shares, with $91 million of the proceeds ticketed to finance deals for its Prime Healthcare Services Inc. affiliates. The REIT recently has completed $62 million of new healthcare real estate and expects to close on $29 million within the next month.

According to an SEC prospectus filed yesterday, nine million shares of the stock will be offered directly by the company. The remaining three million shares will be borrowed from and sold through third parties. This is part of a forward sales agreement between Medical Properties and affiliates of underwriters UBS Securities LLC and Wachovia Capital Markets LLC. In the prospectus, Medical Properties noted that if the forward purchasers can't borrow and deliver the entire allocation, then it will take over issuing and selling the balance.

Medical Properties Trust currently owns 21 facilities being operated by six national healthcare providers. It also has two facilities under development to two tenants and holds a trio of mortgages to a pair of operators. The portfolio of real estate and mortgages span nearly 2.4 million sf and 2,349 beds in California, Colorado, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Texas. It also has two developments under way for another 252,000 sf and 63 more beds. As reported last month by GlobeSt.com, the REIT sold its share in the Houston Town and Country Hospital and medical office building to Memorial Hermann Healthcare System, taking a $1.9-million one-time hit due to a lease termination while gaining more than $5 million from the transaction.