Actis acquires leading real estate platform for life sciences in India

INDIA – Actis, a global investor headquartered in London, has purchased Hyderabad-based Rx Propellant, which provides real estate solutions to tenants in the life sciences and related industries.

Rx Propellant is a market leader in the life sciences real estate industry. The purchase price was not disclosed.

It is currently involved in the development and marketing of a number of real estate projects in the design-development stage in Hyderabad and Bangalore that are aimed at life sciences sector users, totaling over 3 million square feet.

Rx Propellant’s team has over a decade of experience developing and promoting life sciences clusters in India.

Through deep design, development, customization, and marketing expertise, the team has successfully delivered real estate solutions to tenants in the life sciences sector.

With a large talent pool at significantly lower costs, India’s life sciences sector has enormous growth potential in the current decade, making it a compelling destination for global R&D and manufacturing.

The London-headquartered investment major Actis intends to invest US$200 million in the first phase of a buy-and-build program targeting both greenfield and brownfield assets with a focus on sustainability.

Rx Propellant will concentrate its efforts in the thriving life sciences clusters of Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Mumbai.

The Covid-19 pandemic has sped up dealmaking and confirmed investor interest in life sciences and healthcare firms.

“We are thrilled to be investing in a team with deep domain expertise, which, when combined with Actis’ track record of developing sustainability leaders, has the potential to deliver a market-leading enterprise,” said Brian Chinappi, Partner and Global Head of Real Estate at Actis.

The Rx Propellant looks to deliver a market-leading enterprise and help support India-bound drug discovery and manufacturing programs by providing customized real estate solutions.

As demonstrated by the Covid-19 pandemic, India’s life sciences sector is already of global strategic importance. It is poised for significant growth as a result of a number of local and global factors.

Strong growth in demand for the life sciences sector, combined with the scarcity of core assets during the early stages of development, is expected to drive higher rental growth, offering investors attractive returns.

The World Economic Forum suggests that Covid-19 may not be the last pandemic and that better preparation is required to combat future disease outbreaks.

As a result, funding for life sciences research may increase, both to combat the current Covid-19 pandemic and to build a better infrastructure for the future.

Actis recently completed Actis Asia Real Estate Fund 2 fundraising. The US$700 million total represents limited partnership fund and co-investment commitments, with additional co-investment opportunities expected to deliver up to US$1 billion in investable capital over the fund’s lifetime.

The fund will invest in real estate that supports the New Economy, with a focus on Actis’ key geographies of China, Korea, India and South-East Asia, and Vietnam.

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