Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 13
By Azad Hasanli - Trend:
Asian logistics warehouse operator e-Shang Redwood has raised $100 million investment from the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) to back warehouse development projects in Japan, SOFAZ told Trend Feb. 13.
In the latest investment, SOFAZ is injecting the capital in order to capitalize the gap of supply and growing demand for modern warehouses in Japan, the message said.
“This investment is consistent with our strategy of identifying through rigorous diligence and then committing to the most compelling and focused strategies by geography and asset class,” Shahmar Movsumov, executive director of SOFAZ, said.
“Development of state-of-the-art logistics real estate in Japan, which has witnessed increasing levels of demand associated with growth of e-commerce industry particularly in Tokyo and Osaka is such a strategy and complements well our existing real estate portfolio," he added.
The investment came one month after a group of Chinese investors, including GF International Investment Management Ltd., Huarong International, China Everbright Ltd. and CMBC International, invested $300 million in e-Shang Redwood as it prepares for an initial public offering this year.
SOFAZ was established in 1999 with assets of $271 million.
As of Oct. 1, 2016, SOFAZ’s assets increased by 6.7 percent and amounted to $35.82 billion as compared to $33.57 billion in early 2016.
Based on SOFAZ’s regulations, its funds may be used for construction and reconstruction of strategically important infrastructure facilities, as well as solving important national problems.
The main goals of the State Oil Fund are accumulation of resources and placement of the Fund’s assets abroad in order to minimize the negative effect on the economy, prevention of "Dutch disease" to some extent, promotion of resource accumulation for future generations, and supporting current social and economic processes in Azerbaijan.