A Milwaukee company which operates health care facilities is merging with a Denver firm

A Milwaukee-based company that operates health care facilities is merging with a similar Denver-based firm − but will keep its office here.

Physicians Realty Trust, which is chaired by former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, and Healthpeak Properties Inc. will combine in an all-stock merger of equals valued at $21 billion.

Each Physicians Realty Trust common share will be converted into 0.674 of a newly issued Healthpeak common share, under the agreement announced Monday.

The combined company will operate health care properties totaling 52 million square feet, including 40 million square feet of outpatient medical properties in such areas as Dallas, Houston, Nashville, Phoenix and Denver.

The combined company will be led by two Healthpeak executives: Scott Brinker as president and chief executive officer and Peter Scott as chief financial officer.

John Thomas, currently Physicians Realty Trust CEO, will be board vice chair with an active role in strategy, relationships and business development, according to the announcement.

The combined company's board will be comprised of eight Healthpeak directors and five Physicians Realty Trust directors, including Thomas and Thompson, who's also a former U.S. Health and Human Services secretary.

The board will be led by Katherine Sandstrom, who is Healthpeak’s current board chair.

The headquarters of the combined company will be in Denver and it will maintain other existing offices, the announcement said.

"The Milwaukee office will not only remain open," Thomas told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "we expect the number of jobs in this office will grow over time as we integrate operate the combined company."

Physicians Realty Trust's Milwaukee office is in the Renaissance Building, 301-309 N. Water St., in the Historic Third Ward. The company had 101 full-time employees at the end of 2022, according to its annual report.

"This transaction brings together the complementary portfolios and capabilities of two premier real estate companies," Thompson said, in a statement, "and we are confident this combination provides all shareholders an unmatched opportunity to benefit from growth and upside in our combined portfolio and platform.”

Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram, X and Facebook.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin's Physicians Realty Trust merging with Healthpeak Properties