Charter Hall’s flagship Australian logistics fund has acquired a life sciences campus in Melbourne from pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) for A$106m (€67m) in a sale and leaseback deal.

The asset, sited on 16.8 hectares of a campus-style facility, will be held in the Charter Hall Prime Industrial Fund (CPIF).

GSK is currently using the facility as its Australian manufacturing hub for high-volume products.

Charter Hall’s chief investment officer, Sean McMahon, said the investment would increase the group’s exposure to the rapidly-growing life sciences sector.

CPIF’s fund manager, Richard Mason, said the site provided his fund with multiple options following GSK’s departure in late 2023.

“There is potential for substantial future redevelopment and repositioning opportunities to expand or reconfigure the existing improvements, given the large landholding and low site coverage,” he said.

Mason said the acquisition was in line with CPIF’s strategy to increase its geographical exposure to core eastern seaboard markets.

The Charter Hall industrial fund owns a portfolio valued at A$7bn on behalf of its investors, who include Australian superannuation funds, global pension funds, insurance companies and sovereign wealth funds.

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