APG has made its first investment in Chinese life science real estate via a partnership with CBC Group, Asia’s largest healthcare-dedicated investment firm.
The €610bn Dutch pension giant is providing $400m (€346m) seed capital for CBC’s China Life Science Infrastructure Venture (CLSIV), with CBC contributing $100m to the venture.
CLSIV has a hard cap of $1.5bn of total equity commitments and will be dedicated to investing “in best-in-class facilities for life science research, manufacturing and support services catering to biotechnology incubators through to large multinational pharmaceutical companies in China”, according to a joint press release from APG and CBC.
CLSIV has already made its first investment, securing nearly one million square metres of land to develop life science facilities in Shanghai. It aims to further develop its portfolio in key life science clusters in the top nine cities in China: Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Wuhan and Chengdu.
Hans Kang, CEO of CBC health care real estate, said: “We are excited to become the first mover in this space in China which is the most in-demand life science market globally and represents a multi-billion-dollar market opportunity.
“It is critical that scientists and researchers are provided with world-class facilities to explore potential biotech and
pharmaceutical breakthroughs that are needed today more than ever.”
Graeme Torre, the head of Asia-Pacific real estate for APG Asset Management, said “the advancement of healthcare and the development of the life sciences sector is a key objective” for China.
APAC healthcare platform
Separately, CBC also announced the launch of a new Asia-Pacific healthcare platform, in which it will invest alongside APG.
The platform will develop and invest in “high-quality healthcare assets including life science research and manufacturing facilities, hospitals, medical offices and senior living accommodation” across the Asia-Pacific region.
Although APG is a co-founder of the platform, it is yet to commit capital to the platform.
An APG spokesperson hinted this may follow soon. “We believe the Asian healthcare market is a promising asset class,” he said.
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