Macfarlanes advises on financing for Harwell Science and Innovation Campus

14 June 2023

Macfarlanes has advised Canadian investment firm Brookfield on securing £300m in financing for the expansion of Harwell Science and Innovation Campus.

The loan was secured from a consortium of lenders comprising Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas and AXA Investment Managers and is to fund improvements and expansion of the campus in Oxford. Harwell Science and Innovation Campus is one of the UK’s best known science and innovation hubs and the financing will be used to allow it to double in size in the next 3 years. Brookfield acquired a 50 percent stake in the campus in 2020 from UK property company U+I. The remaining stake is owned by the UK Government.

The loan is one of the biggest in the UK market so far this year.

The Macfarlanes team was led by banking and finance partner Laura Bretherton with senior counsel Laura Uberoi and associate Sophia Bell.