Medical Properties Trust has acquired St. Elizabeth Medical Center’s Brighton campus for $189 million as part of a $1.25 billion acquisition of nine Steward Health Care System properties.

Birmingham, Alabama-based MPT acquired a $50 million equity interest in Boston-based Steward and agreed to buy the hospitals’ real estate in a sale-leaseback. It paid for the acquisition with a public offering of 57.5 million shares last month and borrowings from a revolving credit facility.

The transaction includes $1.2 billion for the real estate and the $50 million equity stake in for-profit Steward, which is backed by Cerberus Capital Management.

The hospitals will lease back the real estate from MPT for $600 million with a 15-year initial term, MPT said in a statement.

In a recent announcement, Steward said it will use the investment to expand outside Massachusetts.

The agreement includes a right of first refusal for MPT to acquire other Steward hospitals.

MPT says its financial model allows hospitals to reinvest the proceeds from real estate in staff, technology and facilities.