By Charles Duxbury
Norway's central bank said Thursday that the country's oil fund
has agreed to pay Credit Suisse (CS) 1 billion Swiss francs ($1.08
billion) for an office complex in Zurich.
The central bank, which through its unit Norges Bank Investment
Management manages the oil fund, said in a statement that Credit
Suisse will lease the office complex back for 25 years.
The office complex, known as Uetlihof, located to the southwest
of Zurich's city centre, is Credit Suisse's main office.
This is the oil fund's first investment in Swiss property. It
has previously invested in property in the U.K., France and
Germany.
Norway's oil fund, also known as the Government Pension Fund
global, is the country's sovereign wealth fund where it deposits
much of its oil revenue. It has a market value of about $650
billion.
The oil fund's move into property comes after Norges Bank
received a mandate in 2010 to invest up to 5% of its assets in real
estate.
-Write to Charles Duxbury at charles.duxbury@dowjones.com