Life Science REIT has completed the acquisition of Oxford Technology Park, a 20-acre science and technology park, for £120.3m.
The acquisition includes the park’s debt of £33.8m and the company will also provide up to £62.7m of forward funding to complete the park’s build-out which, once fully developed, will comprise up to 450,000 sq ft of mixed-use life science space and amenity assets. The first buildings on the park are already complete and delivering rental income.
The latest acquisition means Life Science REIT has now fully deployed the proceeds from its IPO in November 2021.
Oxford Technology Park is located less than two miles from Oxford University’s Begbroke Science Park campus, seven miles north of Oxford city centre and adjacent to Oxford Airport.
The park provides a combination of spaces, including laboratory, production and office uses required for life science occupiers along with amenity facilities. Unit sizes range from 6,000 sq ft to 50,000 sq ft. Headline rents are between £16 and £20 per sq ft for hybrid space and £28 per sq ft for offices, which reflects a net initial yield on purchase of 4.75%.
The first two of the park’s 11 units are already complete with one fully let to LGC’s The Native Antigen Company (TNAC), one of the world’s leading suppliers of high-quality infectious disease reagents, at a headline rent of £16 per sq ft. Five further units are due to be completed during 2022 and the final four units during 2023. The acquisition also includes a completed hotel, let to Premier Inn until 2045. The company said there was strong occupier interest in all of the buildings currently under construction.
The company has now invested all of the equity proceeds from its oversubscribed IPO in November 2021 in seven transactions at a total acquisition value of £383m. Life Science REIT’s portfolio comprises projects diversified by development stage, location and asset size, with properties in Oxford, Cambridge and London.
Simon Farnsworth, managing director of Ironstone Asset Management, the company’s investment adviser, said: “There is virtually no new supply of this type, size and quality of space in the Oxford catchment and we are delighted to have secured such an important and strategic asset of scale for our shareholders. It has been great to work with Angus and his team whose vision and hard work has resulted in this opportunity to provide state of the art space for new and established businesses in the area. We look forward to creating a thriving hub of innovation in this perfectly situated asset for the rapidly growing Oxford life science community.”
LABS : Life Science REIT fully deploys IPO proceeds with Oxford Technology Park buy