Fidelity International has marked its entry into the life science real estate sector with the acquisition of a €54m asset in the Netherlands.

The investment manager said its Fidelity Eurozone Select Real Estate Fund has acquired the Mirai House property at Leiden Bio Science Park.

The 15,000sqm mixed-used research and development asset was acquired through a partial sale and leaseback transaction with pharmaceuticals firm Astellas which has leased the building’s office wing.

Mirai House, developed in 2012, is occupied by tenants on leases ranging from 10 to 15 years, the manager said.

Maarten Frouws, an investment manager at Fidelity International, said: “Demographic and technological developments are driving growth of the life science sector. The Leiden Bio Science Park is one of the best-developed science parks in Europe.

“This defensive investment in a growth market offers our investors a very stable return and demonstrates the shift in investor demand from mainstream real estate sectors to more thematic investments.”

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