State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan(SOFAZ) announces today the agreement to acquire Palazzo Turati, an office property in Milan's historical Central Business District (CBD), for €97 million with the aim to further diversify its real estateportfolio. This is the first property acquisition of SOFAZ in Italy.

Palazzo Turati is located at Via Meravigli 7, historical centre of Milan, just a step away from Piazza Cordusio and Piazza Affari, and 500 m from Duomo. The building develops over six floors above the ground for office use, in addition to an exhibition hall on the ground floor. The net leasable area of this prime asset is 10 360 square meters. Palazzo Turati is a historical building built in 1880 and is part of Milan’s heritage. It has recently undergone major restoration works. The property is leased in its entirety to Milan Chamber of Commerce, a primary Italian public institution, which uses it as its HQ, till 2021. The seller of Palazzo Turati is TecnoholdingS.p.a.

The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan, the sovereign wealth fund, was set up in December 1999 by the Presidential Decree as an extra-budgetary entity which accumulates and manages oil and gas revenues of the country. The Fund’s primary objectives are to help maintain macroeconomic stability in the country and to generate wealth for present and future generations. As of 01 December, 2015, assets of SOFAZ totaled USD 33.6 billion. Purchase of this property was realized in accordance with the amendments under the Presidential decree № 519 dated October 27th, 2011 made to "Rules on management of foreign currency assets of the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan". By the investment policy overall value of the investment portfolio can be invested into the gold, equities and real estate with 5%, 15%, 10% per each financial tool.