Wellcome Trust offers to buy developer Urban & Civic for £506m
The Wellcome Trust has made a £506m offer for housing developer Urban & Civic for £506m, as the health research charity’s investment arm bets on the residential property sector in the south of England.
The charity, which has an investment fund worth around £26.8bn, said the recommended offer is “fully aligned with our existing strategy of investing in businesses over the long term”.
It had previously partnered with Urban & Civic on a Manydown, a new garden town near Basingstoke.
Wellcome’s investment division chief executive Peter Pereira Gray said: “We know the Urban & Civic business and its experienced management team from our recent joint venture.
“We welcome Urban & Civic’s management and employees to Wellcome and look forward to working with them to invest in and develop the business further. We believe that the two groups’ complementary strengths will create a business well-equipped to deliver Urban & Civic’s long-term potential.”
The developer has 10 strategic sites over 11,050 acres, which are predominantly brownfield areas for mixed-use housing-led projects and are mostly within 100 miles of London.
Urban & Civic chairman Alan Dickinson added: “The proposal rests on comprehensive industrial logic. Urban & Civic was established just 10 years ago with the specific intention of disrupting prevailing residential presumptions and now leads in strategic sit master development.
“Wellcome is steeped in property experience and has a strong record of alternative asset class investment.”