Italian property company Aedes has signed a preliminary agreement to sell a commercial building at Via Manzoni 65 in Rome to an undisclosed buyer. The transaction involves a cash price of EUR 8.5 mln and the transfer of roughly EUR 74 mln of debt.

The transaction 'significantly improves the net financial position of the group', the company said in a statement, adding that the closing is expected by end-September 2011.

'This operation in line with our strategy shows the efforts carried out by the management to achieve the targets set in our industrial plan,' said Chief Executive Filippo-Maria Carbonari.

Aedes, listed on the Milan stock exchange, is a real estate investment and services company majority-owned by Acciaierie Valbruna, with a 35% stake. The company has been divesting a vast chunk of its portfolio since the signing of a refinancing agreement with its creditor banks in early 2009, which postponed the repayment of some EUR 800 mln of debt to 2014.