£38.7m Acquisition at Cambourne Business Park

RNS Number : 7450U

Life Science REIT PLC

07 December 2021

 

7 December 2021

LEI: 213800RG7JNX7K8F7525

Life Science REIT plc

("Life Science REIT" or the "Company")

£38.7 million acquisition at Cambourne Business Park

Second major transaction following the Company's IPO in November 2021

Life Science REIT (AIM: LABS), the real estate investment trust focused on UK life science properties, announces that, on 6 December 2021, it completed the acquisition of three buildings at the Cambourne Business Park near Cambridge through the purchase of Scholar Property Investments Limited, the sole assets of which are the freehold interests in the three buildings. The purchase price of £38.7 million, excluding acquisition costs, was satisfied entirely in cash and reflects a net initial yield of 5.6%.

This acquisition was under exclusivity at the time of the Company's IPO last month and marks the second major transaction to be completed by the Company.

Cambourne Business Park is approximately eight miles west of Cambridge and is part of the cluster of science and technology parks that have evolved from the innovative scientific research output of the University of Cambridge, one of the world's leading universities.

The three buildings, which total more than 100,000 sq ft of office and MedTech space, comprise two two-storey units and one three-storey unit and are let to tenants that include a major European MedTech company.  

Occupancy is currently over 83% and the property benefits from a 24 month rental guarantee on currently unoccupied space. The property currently generates c. £2.27 million of contracted rent per annum, including guarantees, and has a weighted average unexpired lease term (WAULT) of 5.39 years.

Asset management plans include enhancing the attraction of the buildings to life science companies by investing in new tenant amenities and creating further laboratory space.

Savills acted on behalf of Life Science REIT and Knight Frank acted for the vendor.

Simon Farnsworth, Managing Director of Ironstone Asset Management Ltd, the Company's Investment Adviser, said:

"We are delighted to announce Life Science REIT's fourth acquisition, and second major acquisition, since our IPO last month. Cambourne Business Park has the opportunity to become the premier science park to the west of Cambridge, where transport links are particularly strong and are set to be enhanced by further infrastructure improvements over the next few years. The acquisition of the three buildings at the park benefits from attractive current income along with investment opportunities in further laboratory space and amenity facilities to drive the buildings' attraction to life science companies."

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 (as it forms part of retained EU law as defined in the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Ironstone Asset Management - Investment Adviser
Simon Farnsworth	via Buchanan below
Panmure Gordon - Nominated Adviser and Joint Corporate Broker	[phone]
Atholl Tweedie / Sapna Shah / Philip Shields / Chloe Ponsonby
Jefferies International Limited - Joint Corporate Broker	[phone]
Tom Yeadon / Andrew Morris / Oliver Nott
Buchanan - Financial PR	[phone]
Mark Court / Henry Wilson / Verity Parker [e-mail]

Notes to editors

Life Science REIT plc is a property business focused solely on the UK's growing life science sector, specifically targeting opportunities in the "Golden Triangle" research and development hubs of Oxford, Cambridge and London St Pancras. The Company's intention is to become the property provider of choice for life science companies in the UK, whilst enabling shareholders to gain exposure to a specific growth sector. 

The objective of the Company's investment policy is focused on capital growth, whilst also providing a growing level of income, by investing primarily in a diversified portfolio of properties that are leased, or intended to be leased, to tenants operating in the life science sector in the UK. 

Life Science REIT joined the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange on 19 November 2021, having raised £350 million in its IPO. Its shares trade under the ticker LABS.

Further information is available at https://lifesciencereit.co.uk

 

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