Ivanhoé Cambridge and Lighthouse Canton invest in life science R&D office labs portfolio in India’s largest biotech cluster, Genome Valley, Hyderabad

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Ivanhoé Cambridge, a global real estate subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (cdpq.com), one of Canada’s leading institutional fund managers, announced its investment in a 0.85M sf life science R&D office-labs portfolio in Genome Valley, Hyderabad. The portfolio will be acquired alongside Lighthouse Canton, the existing asset manager with a track record of managing the portfolio with an experienced on-the-ground management team. India is an established pharma and life science innovation hub for global and domestic companies and the world’s largest vaccine manufacturing destination characterized by a technically sound talent pool and world class R&D capabilities. Genome Valley is India’s first master planned cluster for life science R&D activities with India’s largest concentration of multi-tenanted lab space. It offers a deep life science ecosystem and a synergistic environment facilitating infrastructure sharing, technical collaboration, and access to a world class pool of scientists. The portfolio is occupied by 20+ leading global and domestic pharma and bio-tech companies, vaccine manufacturers and contract research organisations. The MN Park portfolio will receive investment from Ivanhoé Cambridge and Lighthouse Canton in an 80:20 ratio, respectively. The initial focus will be on consolidating the portfolio with select value accretive acquisitions in relevant life science R&D clusters in India. The transaction also includes the completion of development on identified land options within the portfolio to cater to tenant expansion requirements. “This new investment in MN Park allows us to reinforce our conviction in life science real estate, a key focus area of our diversification strategy into high growth, innovation-focused sectors”, commented Chanakya Chakravarti, Managing Director, India, at Ivanhoé Cambridge. “We anticipate that India will further cement its position in the global life science arena in the post pandemic world. A new healthcare focus positions office-labs as a unique and exciting opportunity. We look forward to participating in this high growth sector by expanding the portfolio through select acquisitions in partnership with an aligned asset manager. MN Park offers diversification to Ivanhoé Cambridge’s India exposure, thereby enhancing portfolio resilience.”, he added. MN Park is India’s largest privately owned portfolio of leased life sciences R&D office labs. It offers fully fitted lab spaces, incubation and R&D facilities, storage spaces, office spaces, large open recreational spaces, and a host of amenities occupied by global and domestic credit tenants operating strategic R&D facilities engaged in mission critical, core innovation focused healthcare research. Speaking on the investment by Ivanhoé Cambridge, Mr. Shilpi Chowdhary, CEO, Lighthouse Canton, said, “The life sciences office labs has been a high conviction theme for the firm since our acquisition of MN Park portfolio in 2016. We are pleased to be co-investing with Ivanhoé Cambridge, a firm which is deeply aligned with this strategy. We aim to continue delivering high quality infrastructure that will set a benchmark for such assets in the country and look forward to continue supporting the growth of the life sciences sector across India.“ Ivanhoé Cambridge’s investment in MN Park is in line with its global strategy of focusing on sectors that foster innovation and long-term growth fundamentals. In March 2021, Ivanhoé Cambridge partnered with Lendlease to develop a 1.15-acre project featuring a state-of-the-art life science building with world-class amenities, located at 60 Guest Street, a land parcel in the Boston Landing campus in Allston/Brighton, Massachusetts (read about the project here.)