BALTIMORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Wexford Science & Technology, LLC today announced that it has become an independent company, owned and operated by its existing management team. The change occurred simultaneously with the closing of Ventas, Inc.’s (NYSE: VTR) acquisition of Wexford’s real estate assets from Wexford’s former parent company BioMed Realty, L.P., an affiliate of Blackstone Real Estate Partners VIII L.P. Additionally, under the new agreements with Ventas, Wexford will continue to manage and operate the existing $1.5 billion portfolio of university-centric assets now owned by Ventas and lead joint development of future projects on the Wexford Knowledge Community platform.
Wexford has developed, and currently operates, 12 Knowledge Community projects across the United States, encompassing 14 university, academic medical center, and research institution relationships. Several of Wexford’s projects have earned international recognition as leading innovation districts. In addition, the company maintains a substantial pipeline of potential projects that will fuel its future growth as it continues to see strong demand for their vibrant, mixed-use, amenity-rich environments that foster innovation and collaboration.
“Wexford’s return to being an independent company provides the flexibility to focus solely on creating and expanding our strategic, enduring relationships with leading research universities, academic medical centers and research institutions,” said Jim Berens, President and CEO at Wexford Science & Technology, LLC. “We also have enhanced our financial capacity to meet the expanding, complex needs of our clients by pairing our real estate strategy and solutions development expertise with the financial strength and growth focus of Ventas, the leading capital provider to high-quality life sciences, senior living and healthcare organizations, and a top S&P 500 company with an enterprise value exceeding $36 billion.”
The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
About Wexford
Wexford Science & Technology, LLC is a real estate company exclusively focused on partnering with universities, academic medical centers and research companies to develop vibrant, mixed-use communities. Wexford’s communities are built on a foundation of discovery, innovation and entrepreneurial activity that creates visible outcomes in the form of substantial economic growth, new and diverse jobs and community transformation. Wexford targets strategic opportunities with top-tier research universities that are directly on or contiguous to dense, urban campuses. Wexford has developed twelve Knowledge Communities across the U.S.: the Bio-Research & Development Growth (BRDG) Park (Danforth Plant Science Center) in St. Louis, MO; Cortex Innovation Community (Washington University in St Louis) in St. Louis, MO; Downtown Crossing (Yale University) in New Haven, CT; Hershey Center for Applied Research (Penn State School of Medicine) in Hershey, PA; Innovation Research Park @ODU (Old Dominion University) in Norfolk, VA; The South Street Landing (Brown University, University of Rhode Island) in Providence, RI; Chesterfield (Duke University) in Durham, NC; Ucity Square (University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University) in Philadelphia, PA; University of Maryland BioPark in Baltimore, MD; University of Miami Life Science & Technology Park in Miami, FL; University Technology Park at IIT (Illinois Institute of Technology) in Chicago, IL; and Wake Forest Innovation Quarter in Winston-Salem, NC. More information about Wexford can be found at www.wexfordscitech.com.
About Ventas
Ventas, Inc., an S&P 500 company, is a leading real estate investment trust. Its diverse portfolio of approximately 1,300 assets in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom consists of seniors housing communities, medical office buildings, life science buildings, skilled nursing facilities, specialty hospitals and general acute care hospitals. Through its Lillibridge subsidiary, Ventas provides management, leasing, marketing, facility development and advisory services to highly rated hospitals and health systems throughout the United States. More information about Ventas and Lillibridge can be found at www.ventasreit.com and www.lillibridge.com.
