Ivanhoe Cambridge, Canada Commits Investment Of USD 100 Million In Genome Valley

July 7, 2021, Hyderabad: In a big boost to Government’s focus on the life sciences sector, Ivanhoé Cambridge, a global real estate subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), one of Canada’s leading institutional fund managers, announced its entry in Genome Valley and has committed to invest of USD 100 Mn to develop about 1 Mn SFT of lab space in the cluster. 

Genome Valley in Hyderabad is India’s first and largest cluster for life science R&D and clean manufacturing cluster housing more than 200 life sciences companies. The government has taken various initiatives to strengthen the cluster further. 

The leadership of Ivanhoe Cambridge and Lighthouse Canton- Mr. Chanakya Chakravarti, MD and Head, Ivanhoe Cambridge India, Mr. Hare Krishna, Sr Director, Ivanhoe Cambridge India, Ms. Shilpi Chowdhary, CEO, Lighthouse Canton, and Mr. Sanket Sinha, Head, Asset Management, Lighthouse Canton; and Head, MN Park Portfolio met with Hon’ble Minister Mr. KT Rama Rao virtually today and made this announcement. Mr. Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, Industries & Commerce & IT, Mr. Narasimha Reddy, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Limited, and Mr. Shakthi Nagappan, Director, Life Sciences & Pharma, Government of Telangana also attended the meeting. 

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. This is one of the first such transactions by a pension fund in the life sciences real estate segment in South Asia and shall set a benchmark for the sector in India. An investment of this nature in Hyderabad reinforces the leadership position in the life sciences sector. 

Ivanhoe Cambridge brings deep investing expertise in real estate globally and has been investing in life sciences real estate. The company held C$60,4 billion in real estate assets as of December 31, 2020, and through subsidiaries and partnerships, Ivanhoe Cambridge holds interest in more than 1,100 buildings, primarily in the industrial and logistics, office, residential, and retail sectors. 

Ivanhoe Cambridge and Lighthouse Canton aspire to contribute to the growth of the R&D sector in Hyderabad by investing about USD 100 Mn for developing 1 Mn ft of laboratory space thereby creating more R&D and allied life sciences infrastructure over a period of time.

Hon’ble Minister Mr. K.T Rama Rao said that “I’m delighted to announce the entry of Ivanhoe Cambridge, Canada in Genome Valley through MN park with an investment commitment of USD 100 Million for creation of about 1 Million SFT lab space in Genome Valley.” 

“This new investment in MN Park, Hyderabad 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 and Hyderabad will further cement its position in the global life science arena in the post-pandemic world”, he added.