California based BioMed Realty Trust, Inc. has agreed to buy Granta Park, a leading science park in Cambridge UK, for £126.8m.

The Wall Street-quoted company has entered into a definitive agreement for the complex which comprises 11 lab and office buildings, some 472,200 sq ft of space plus around 138,400 sq ft of development and expansion rights.

The purchase price to current owner MEPC is around $196m (£126.8m).

Granta Park is fully leased to a diversified portfolio of 11 tenants, including global pharma and biotech organisations, with an average remaining lease term of more than eight years.

With this new investment, the company will expand current tenant relationships with MedImmune (and parent company AstraZeneca), which will become the company's 11th largest tenant, and Pfizer.

Granta is also home to Gilead Sciences, Pharmaceutical Product Development, UCB, and Vernalis. BioMed estimates the annual cash net operating income for the Granta Park investment at around £10.2m.

The global kudos of the Cambridge technology cluster has been key to the deal. BioMed said in a statement: “The Cambridge UK research community is anchored by the University of Cambridge, established in 1209, with 20 per cent of the world's Nobel Prize recipients in medicine and chemistry and the recipient of over 280 million pounds in research grants in 2011.

“This Cambridge science cluster supports over 1,000 science and technology companies, the Wellcome Trust, the largest medical research charitable organisation in the world, Cavendish Laboratory, and the Babraham Institute.”

BioMed’s chairman and chief executive, Alan D. Gold, said: “We are extremely pleased and excited to announce our expansion of BioMed Realty's best-in-class property portfolio with this investment in Cambridge, the premier life science cluster in the UK and arguably all of Europe.

“The Cambridge market enjoys all of the critical elements that mark a strong, self-sustaining life science cluster: proximity to premier academic and research institutions, a highly skilled work force, access to financial partners, and a healthy portfolio of strong commercial life science organisations.”

Kent Griffin, president of BioMed Realty, added: “This investment demonstrates the robust nature of our fully-integrated operating platform and our ability to leverage BioMed Realty's particular skill and expertise in life science real estate for the benefit of our shareholders.

“Granta Park is an excellent investment opportunity with very attractive return potential consistent with our core business strategy – focused on highest-quality real estate in core life science clusters and in close proximity to primary demand drivers, including leading research institutions.

“This recently developed, amenity-rich, eleven-building campus has attracted world-renowned life science research organizations and includes additional development potential, enabling us to support their continued growth and expansion going forward.”