ICG has been selected by the British Business Bank to receive investment from the new Long-term Investment for Technology and Science (LIFTS) initiative.
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The LIFTS initiative seeks to mobilise institutional investment into the UK’s Science and Technology companies, and will help enable Defined Contribution (DC) pension schemes to invest, offering potential benefits to their members by providing access to investments in high growth companies.
The LIFTS commitment of £100m confirms British Business Bank as an anchor investor into ICG’s Life Sciences strategy, which will continue to invest into innovative Life Sciences companies to support their growth ambitions. In addition to the investment received from British Business Bank, the strategy has received a matched £100m anchor investment from Phoenix, the UK's largest long-term savings and retirement business. Both awards are subject to ongoing commercial discussions and the internal governance processes of all involved parties.
Investments into this strategy will be made by ICG’s dedicated and highly-experienced Life Sciences team. Based in London, the core team has worked together since 2018 and combines both extensive investment experience as well as a deep operational focus. All team members have worked in the pharmaceutical industry, and four of them have been CEOs of biotech companies. The Team has also been involved in over 120 drug discovery and development programmes, and has taken 25 products to market.
Benoît Durteste, CEO and CIO of ICG said: “ICG is proud to have been selected for the LIFTS scheme, which aligns with our longer-term ambition to be the premier European Life Sciences investor. As a UK headquartered global alternative asset manager with over 35 years of experience, we fully support this initiative to unlock UK institutional pension capital and catalyse investment into science and technology. The UK continues to deliver world class research and through our dedicated Life Sciences strategy, we look forward to supporting the growth ambitions of the UK’s most innovative Life Sciences companies.”
Allan Marchington, head of life sciences for ICG, said: “The Life Sciences sector is instrumental in developing and scaling the innovations which will enable the world to tackle many of its healthcare challenges. ICG’s Life Sciences strategy and the LIFTS initiative will play a significant part in ensuring these ground-breaking companies have the investment they need to achieve their ambitions.”