Mills & Reeve advises on landmark £200m Chinese investment in Cambridge Science Park
The landmark joint venture between Trinity College, Cambridge and Tus Park, the Science Park development body of Tsinghua University in Beijing, will inject over £200 million into a new phase of renewal and investment in Cambridge Science Park.
The Master of Trinity, Sir Gregory Winter, signed the landmark agreement with Tus-Holdings Chairman, Wang Jiwu, at an event in Beijing attended by the UK’s Secretary of State for International Trade, Dr Liam Fox, and President of China Health Information and Big Data Association Jin Xiaotao.
The collaboration involves the development of five new office and research buildings, including a new state of the art Biohub and a new HQ for Frontier Developments Plc, the listed video game designer. The new Biohub will provide laboratories and offices for early stage biotech and medtech companies together with expansion opportunities for growing businesses.
The Biohub will operate alongside The Bradfield Centre, which recently opened with the official backing of the UK Government’s Department for Business Enterprise and Industrial Strategy, to support early stage companies in the region’s ever-expanding technology cluster. The Biohub will also open up opportunities for technology and biotech scale-ups as they grow.
The joint venture marks an important investment in the oldest part of the 150 acre park, which is home to 90 companies and a workforce of 6,500 people.
Rory Landman, Trinity College’s Senior Bursar, said: “This landmark investment is great news for Cambridge Science Park and its resident technology start-ups. Together, the Biohub and the Bradfield Centre will increase the proportion of early stage companies on the park. This will strengthen Cambridge’s world-class position as the place to develop and grow deep technology businesses.”
Michelle Cookson, real estate partner at Mills & Reeve, added: “We have been involved with Cambridge Science Park from its inception so it was great to be able to work on this innovative collaboration between the two organisations. As well as underpinning new investment it provides opportunities to share knowledge and create new ways of working to ensure Cambridge’s position at the heart of the world-wide technology community.”
Bidwells worked alongside Mills & Reeve to advise Trinity College while Squire Patton Boggs and JLL acted for Tus Park.