The management company Novaxia Investissement, specializing in the rehabilitation and recycling of real estate, has announced the launch of a new investment fund dedicated to life sciences and “future technologies”, called Novaxia Vista.
Proposed within a few weeks in the form of a unit of account* in the life insurance contracts and PERs of its four partner insurers – Apicil, Generali Patrimoine, Spirica, Suravenir and Vie Plus – this SRI-labelled fund/article 9 will offer savers an investment universe usually reserved for institutions.
Novaxia – which since its creation in 2006 has developed a particular expertise in the rehabilitation of wasteland and the transformation of offices into housing – has more recently taken an interest in the French HealthTech sector and its needs for suitable premises and infrastructure.
Life sciences, a growing market
The management company strongly believes in the development potential of this market, whose venture capital funding in Europe has grown on average by nearly 30% per year since 2017, according to Christopher Walters, director of the “life sciences” division. at JLL UK, and while at the same time the number of square meters available dedicated to market players is undersized compared to the Anglo-Saxon markets.
Already selected in 2021 by the AP-HP to transform the obsolete offices of the Hôtel Dieu into a start-up incubator (delivery scheduled for January 2023), Novaxia Investissement has set up an in-house specialized skills center for financing and rehabilitation of innovative real estate projects in this segment.
500 million euros targeted in the medium term
These projects will be supported through this new financial vehicle. The fund, which is targeting 500 million euros in assets over an 18-24 month horizon, targets the purchase, development and rental of different types of assets (offices, activities, research center, laboratories, production) in France as well as in Europe for companies in the medical, biotech, artificial intelligence and nutrition sectors.
It will be able to count on the financial support of a Canadian partner, Oxford Properties, which specializes in this niche in North America and the United Kingdom, which has planned to put a total of one billion euros on the table in co-investment, on important projects, from 30 or 40 million euros “.
Their first joint acquisition, “ a major research and biotech hub in France “, has already been completed, but the identity of the site has not yet been revealed.
Performance target
Like its other funds, Novaxia Vista will generate financial performance thanks to the return on its rented buildings and site revaluation operations (purchase, rehabilitation, resale). Rated 3 on the AMF risk scale, it is aiming for a net annual return of 5%. And like any UC, its recommended investment horizon is a minimum of eight years.
It should be noted that part of Novaxia Vista’s envelope, between 5 and 10% of the portfolio, will be invested in solidarity assets, a dimension with which the fund aims to obtain the Finansol label by 2023.
*In the legal form of a civil real estate company.