The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) $34 billion sovereign-wealth fund plans to buy commercial real estate in Australia in bid to increase its assets in the continent, according to reports.
"We plan to travel to Australia in order to meet with the leading market participants, including regulators, developers, asset owners, and overseas investors to gain deeper understanding of the market," said the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan, or Sofaz, in an emailed response to questions from The Wall Street Journal. "This trip is planned to take place during the course of this year."
SOFAZ said in a statement that it plans to travel to Australia in order to meet with leading market participants, including regulators, developers, asset owners and overseas investors, in order to gain deeper understanding of the market. The trip is planned to take place during the course of 2013.
Foreign investment in the last financial year into Australian commercial property-such as hotels, offices and malls-came to 39.4 billion Australian dollars (US$40.7 billion), nearly twice the year-earlier A$20.6 billion.
Sofaz, which Azerbaijan established in 1999 to capture oil and gas revenue, said it's increasing its investments in Australia after last year buying its first Australian government debt and first shares in "major" Australian companies-big enough to appear in the MSCI World Index.
