Actis, a global investor in sustainable infrastructure, has acquired Rx Propellant, a platform focused on providing real estate solutions (R&D labs and associated facilities) to tenants in the life sciences and related sectors in India.
Rx Propellant is a leading player in the life sciences real estate sector and is currently involved in development and marketing of a number of real estate projects in design-development stage across Hyderabad and Bangalore targeted at life sciences sector users, aggregating over 3 million square feet.
The team behind Rx Propellant brings more than a decade of rich experience in developing and promoting life sciences clusters in India. The team has been successfully delivering real estate solutions to tenants in the life sciences sector, through deep design, development, customisation and marketing expertise. India’s life sciences sector holds huge potential for growth in the current decade, with a large talent pool at significantly competitive cost making it a compelling destination for global R&D and manufacturing.
In the initial phase, Actis is looking to invest US$ 200million into a buy & build program targeting both Greenfield and brownfield assets with an emphasis on sustainability. Rx Propellant will focus on thriving life sciences clusters in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mumbai.
Brian Chinappi, Partner and Global Head of Real Estate at Actis, said: “The life sciences sector in India is already of global strategic importance, as demonstrated during the Covid-19 pandemic. It is poised for significant growth, owing to a confluence of a number of factors both local and global. We are excited to be investing in a team that has deep domain expertise and, when combined with Actis’ track record in building sustainability leaders, has the potential to deliver a market-leading enterprise.”
Ashish Singh, Partner and Head of India and SE Asia Real Estate at Actis commented: “Life sciences corporations have unique requirements and often need customised real estate solutions which are deficient in supply. The Rx Propellant management team, with over a decade-long domain experience, looks to fill this gap, and help support India-bound drug discovery and manufacturing programs by providing customised real estate solutions.”
Actis recently announced it has completed fundraising for Actis Asia Real Estate Fund 2. The US$ 700million total represents LP fund and co-investment commitments, with additional co-investment opportunities expected to deliver up to US$ 1billion of investable capital during the life of the fund. The Fund will allocate capital to invest in real estate that enables the New Economy, focusing on Actis’ key geographies of China, Korea, India and South-East Asia, and Vietnam.
