Greater Manchester Pension Fund has joined forces with Bruntwood SciTech to provide a £500m investment into the UK’s life sciences and tech sector.
The deal comes as Bruntwood SciTech aims to create a £5bn UK-wide portfolio that can support 2,600 businesses in the two sectors by 2032.
The new equity sees the local government pension fund inject £150m, alongside an increase in investment from existing shareholders, Legal & General and Bruntwood, through a cash and asset transfer.
It will be used to expand and redevelop existing 3.6m sq ft of science and technology campuses and city centre innovation hubs, delivering additional lab and office space in Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Glasgow and Cambridge.
Bruntwood will separately retain a £260m portfolio of workspaces, primarily located in town centres, alongside a £100m portfolio of regeneration projects with Trafford and Bury councils.
The investment will also enable Bruntwood SciTech to enter additional research and development-intensive regional cities. Discussions are already under way with other local authority-linked funds for additional capital investment.
Chris Oglesby, executive chair of Bruntwood SciTech and chief executive of Bruntwood, said: “GMPF’s investment, alongside the additional capital from Legal & General and assets from Bruntwood, will elevate the potential of Bruntwood SciTech even further, accelerate the delivery of our expansion pipeline, and maintain our market leading position as the workspace provider of choice for innovation-led businesses.
“We will also be able to further support the delivery of strategic city visions and innovation strategies in the UK’s fastest growing regional cities.”
Kate Lawlor, chief executive for Bruntwood SciTech, added: “The UK’s real estate market is in a challenging period, but this deal is about three organisations aligned in both their visions and commitment to investing for the long-term.
“It underlines our absolute confidence in our business model and proposition’s success, and we can now realise it at scale across more locations.”
GMPF was selected following a competitive process for new equity funding partners that started in February this year. Bruntwood and Legal & General were advised by Eastdil and GMPF by CBRE.
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