In late November last year, AXA Investment Managers – Real Assets, now rebranded as AXA IM Alts, announced that it had acquired Kadans Science Partner, a developer, owner and operator of science parks and lab offices in Europe.

The move gave AXA IM Alts an immediate foothold in the life sciences sector, which is emerging as a high-growth asset class in Europe and has been attracting strong interest from investors. John O’Driscoll, head of European transactions at AXA IM Alts, says that the manager will work with Kadans to grow its portfolio of properties across a number of countries, including the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Spain and Italy.

“The potential for growth is significant,” says O’Driscoll. “There isn’t a great deal of data on how big the market can become [in Europe], but if you look at the underlying seeds, you get a sense that it won’t be constrained by a lack of opportunity.”

Life sciences real estate covers everything f