BioCity Group has been acquired by Trinity Investment Management (Trinity IM) and Harrison Street Real Estate Capital (Harrison Street) as part of a pre-existing joint venture.
The deal will see the merger of BioCity Group with Trinity IM’s science real estate arm, Knowledge Factory, to create a nationwide life science ecosystem.
At a time of unprecedented profile and opportunity for the life sciences and technology sectors in the UK, BioCity Group have been seeking partners to help scale their operation and amplify impact. In Trinity IM and Harrison Street, they have found mission-aligned partners via a deal that gives BioCity Group access to the funds required to invest in and expand existing facilities, accelerator programmes and venture capital activity.
The deal will form a new company; Pioneer Group. Pioneer Group will become a nationwide business which will combine direct business support with the investment and development of new lab space. Providing ecosystems for growth and allowing ambitious businesses to tap into the expertise and networks of other companies connected across Britain and North America.
BioCity’s existing venture development and investment arms will expand to become UK wide whilst collaborating closely with academics, government agencies and major pharmaceutical companies.
BioCity locations will join a wider network of 5 other science parks currently managed by Trinity IM’s science real estate arm, Knowledge Factory, in Edinburgh, Manchester, Colworth, Wilton and Kent.
Toby Reid, BioCity CEO said “The aims for our business are the same as those within our collective. To scale a promising venture into commercial success and continually develop that business to realise its full potential and achieve the funding goal. It is with immense pride that today we announce our next step along that path. We have bootstrapped our way from “probable white elephant”, as labelled by the Financial Times in 2003, to “successful lab experiment” (FT 2008), to “one of Europe’s fastest-growing companies” (FT 1000 report 2017) and now one of the most replicated business models within our industry. What we have achieved is incredible, but that is not to say it has been easy. As a team, we can attest to the hard work behind the scenes in making that vision a reality. So, while we will soon be looking to the future, I want to take a moment to reflect on what we have achieved. I am immensely proud of all that we have built together.”
Toby Reid added “This is by no means the end of our hard work. Our public/corporate identity and email addresses will change, but who we are, what we are trying to achieve and most importantly, why, remains the same. To provide a home to the curious and help pioneering science ventures to make it out of the lab and into the world, to tackle the biggest global health and environmental challenges.”
