Life Sciences Corporate Campus

Press Release

Sidra Capital Acquires Life Sciences Corporate Campus in the US


The acquisition of Arborcrest Corporate Campus is the largest suburban Philadelphia life science asset transaction during the Covid pandemic

Jeddah, December 02, 2020 – Sidra Capital, a shariah compliant asset manager based in Saudi Arabia and regulated by the Capital Market Authority, announced today that it has acquired a 90-percent stake worth $225 million in the Arborcrest Corporate Campus in Philadelphia, United States. The five-building, 855,600 square foot suburban office campus includes a significant life sciences and biotech tenancy in the suburban Philadelphia community of Blue Bell, Pennsylvania.

Demographic changes and the limited capacity for working remotely led Sidra to aggressively pursue life sciences assets, as COVID-19 has brought this sector into renewed focus, and these longer-term trends are driving and will continue to drive growth.

“The life science industry has been growing rapidly even before the pandemic and it is a sector we identified due to its defensive nature especially when space is being used by pharmaceutical and biotech companies for research development and even manufacturing,” says Hani Baothman, Chairman of Sidra Capital. “Life sciences / biotech tenants were critical to this deal as we would not have considered an office campus where the tenants are from the old economy.”

Sidra’s investment strategy is to identify recession-resistant assets, and the firm generally remains sector agnostic, focusing more on recognizing and then investing into long-term trends. “Our overall strategy is to invest in defensive commercial real estate and focus on non-cyclical real estate tenants, regardless of where we are in the market cycle,” added Baothman.

The healthcare and life sciences industry has been front and center throughout the year, as the pharmaceutical and biomedical industry is focused on creating effective COVID-19 vaccine and therapeutics to treat the virus. With a spotlight on this industry, there is a growing interest in assets with strong life sciences and biotech tenancy, given the industry’s stability throughout the pandemic and strong outlook into 2021.

Based on analysis of Real Capital Analytics (RCA) statistics, the Arborcrest sale is the largest suburban Philadelphia life science trade during COVID. It also ranks as the sixth-largest suburban sale in a primary or secondary U.S. market.

“This deal demonstrates Sidra’s unique access to global markets through our growing network of offices and partners. Through our ability to anticipate, adapt and capitalize on changing market dynamics, we have been able to unlock long term return potential and meet clients’ goals,” concluded Baothman.