Completion of €38m refinancing for one of continental Europe’s most sustainable life science buildings
24 July 2025. As L&G continues to build out its European real estate footprint, it announces that it has completed its second refinancing in the Netherlands. L&G, together with Breakthrough Properties – a life science real estate investment company backed by Tishman Speyer and Bellco Capital – have completed the €38 million refinancing of One Helix, a newly built research and development building located in the Amsterdam University Medical Cluster. The five-year loan facility represents a new partnership between L&G and Breakthrough Properties and demonstrates further momentum in L&G’s lending strategy which aims to invest in prime real estate assets across the UK and Europe.
One Helix will be home to AstraZeneca’s new cell therapy discovery labs, focused on pioneering novel T cell receptor (TCR) therapies. Achieving Practical Completion on 7 July, One Helix will hold the highest sustainability credentials of BREEAM[1] Outstanding Fully Fitted and an EPC A+++++ rating, as well as aiming to be net carbon negative in its operations, positioning the asset as a leading sustainable life science building in Europe.
This deal builds on a series of successful real estate debt transactions for L&G, including a recent £250 million private debt investment with Magnavale Ltd to support cold-storage logistics in the food sector, and a €34 million refinancing of Hilton The Hague in partnership with Avignon Capital. This activity forms part of L&G’s Private Credit portfolio—within its £57 billion Private Markets platform[2]—which invests on behalf of clients globally across real estate debt, infrastructure debt, corporate debt, and alternative debt, and reflects the firm’s growing and diversified lending footprint across key geographies and target assets.
James Spencer-Jones, Head of Real Estate Debt – UK and Europe, Asset Management, L&G: “We are proud to have partnered with Breakthrough Properties to deliver this sustainability-orientated and optimally located real estate asset which will support the delivery of innovative life science initiatives. The Netherlands, and Europe more widely, offers an attractive lending landscape and we are delighted to be upscaling our real estate debt offering across the region.”
The deal was funded by capital from L&G’s Institutional Retirement business, alongside funds managed by the Asset Management business.
Tom Renn, Senior Vice President, Development & Acquisitions, Breakthrough Properties: “One Helix is setting new standards for state-of-the-art biotech research facilities in Europe. As Breakthrough continues expanding across Europe, we are thrilled to see One Helix’s vision come to life as a long-term location for AstraZeneca. We appreciate L&G’s support of this refinancing and look forward to building upon this exciting partnership founded upon the shared principles of sustainability and innovation.”
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Notes to editors
About L&G’s Asset Management business
L&G’s Asset Management business is a major global investor across public and private markets, with £1.118 trillion in AUM.* Our clients include individual savers, pension scheme members and global institutions.
We provide investment solutions from index-tracking and active funds to liquidity and liability-based risk management strategies.
Our investment philosophy and processes are focused on creating value over the long term. We believe that incorporating financially material sustainability criteria, when relevant to our clients, can create value and drive positive change. This reflects L&G’s purpose: ‘Investing for the long term. Our futures depend on it.’
*Source: L&G internal data as at 31 December 2024. The AUM disclosed aggregates the assets managed by L&G in the UK, US, and Hong Kong (2018-2019 only) and Singapore from July 2023. Excludes assets managed by associates (Pemberton, NTR, BTR).
About Breakthrough Properties
Formed in 2019 as a joint venture between global real estate owner, developer, and investor Tishman Speyer and biotechnology investment firm Bellco Capital, Breakthrough Properties is a life science real estate development company that leverages cross-sector collaboration to deliver environments that foster innovation and scientific breakthroughs. Breakthrough Properties’ mission is to acquire, develop and operate the best life science properties in leading urban technology centres around the world and support scientific innovation across biotechnology, agriculture, and nutrition. Breakthrough combines Tishman Speyer’s decades of global real estate development experience with Bellco Capital’s industry-making biotechnology entrepreneurship to reimagine environments where companies can create life-changing therapies for patients.