Oxford Biomedica to sell and leaseback to Kadans of Windrush Court facility for £60 million

Oxford Biomedica plc, a leading gene and cell therapy group, is selling its Windrush Court facility to Kadans Science Partner for £60 million. Completion is due to occur this week. The sale proceeds of £60 million exceed the target offer figure of £55 million that the Company previously announced it was seeking.  

As a result, the Company's cash position is expected to further strengthen to more than £150 million . The current net book value of the Property is approximately £7.9 million.

Kadans have granted Oxford Biomedica an occupational lease of the Property for 15 years at a rent of £3.5 million per annum rising to £4.7 million per annum after five years, with a market rent review at 10 years. 

The Windrush Court facility is a c.75,000 sq ft building consisting of state-of-the-art laboratories as well as extensive office space which the Company have developed over the past 8 years. The facility houses the Company's Analytical Services Group and Process Research & Development functions.

Stuart Paynter, Chief Financial Officer of Oxford Biomedica, said: " We are pleased to have exchanged contracts for the sale and leaseback of our state-of-the-art Windrush Court facility and look forward to building a relationship with Kadans, the European leader in the development and management of life sciences buildings and ecosystems. The proceeds of the transaction will enhance our net cash position, providing us with additional financial flexibility as we build our leadership as an innovation-led CDMO across all viral vectors for cell and gene therapy."

James Sheppard, Managing Director (UK & Ireland) of Kadans, commented : "We are delighted to secure this tremendously important asset in the Oxford ecosystem. Oxford Biomedica is one of the world's leading companies in cell and gene therapy, an area of deep specialism for Kadans, and we look forward to building a relationship with the team."

Oxford BioMedica acquired the freehold of the Windrush Court office and laboratory facilities in 2014, paying £3.2 million.

Andrew Lockhart, Senior Director of CBRE Oxford office and Life Sciences Division, said: "We are delighted to have advised Oxford Biomedica in the sale of Windrush Court to Kadans. It represents a highlight in the Oxford property market and the strength of the Life Sciences sector, which will allow both Oxford Biomedica and Kadans to strength their relative positions in this exciting and growth market."

Freddie Owen, Partner at Knight Frank, added: "Knight Frank are delighted to have advised Kadans on the acquisition of Oxford Biomedica’s Headquarters. Windrush Court is a high quality life science laboratory & office facility and a great addition to the existing Kadans portfolio."

With the acquisition of Windrush Court, Oxford, the Kadans portfolio now consists of more than 50 buildings and numerous projects under development in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, France and Spain. Kadans aspires to partner with universities, venture capital firms and innovative organisations to create one strong knowledge-sharing ecosystem of scientific enterprise across Europe.

Kadans was supported in this transaction by Knight Frank, and Mills & Reeve acted as legal advisors for Kadans. CBRE advised the vendor and Plainlaw acted as legal advisors.

In September Oxford BioMedica has reported a swing to interim loss and a decline in interim revenue, due to a decrease in Covid vaccine batches manufactured for AstraZeneca.

For the six months to June 30 the company reported pretax loss of £27.4 million from a profit of £19.2 million a year ago.

Revenue declined by 21 per cent to £64.0 million from £81.4 million a year earlier due to a decrease in vaccine batches manufactured for AstraZeneca PLC.

But the company said it had achieved double-digit growth in the core business excluding Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing.

“We have made significant strategic and operational progress towards our goal of becoming a global viral vector leader,” said CEO Roch Doliveux.

“In the first half of 2022 we achieved double-digit revenue growth in our core business and since the start of the year have signed numerous new or expanded partnership deals, including a new AAV deal, resulting in an over 70 per cent increase in the number of customers with whom we work.”