Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management made an unsolicited bid to buy REIT Rouse Properties for about $657 million. The offer represents a premium of 26 percent to the closing price of Rouse shares on Jan. 15, as well as a 19 percent premium on the stock’s 30-day, volume-weighted average trading price. “Our offer provides an attractive opportunity for Rouse shareholders to realize a significant premium to recent public market pricing,” said Brian Kingston, CEO of Brookfield Property Group, the real estate arm of Brookfield Asset Management, in a prepared statement.
Brookfield presented its bid to the Rouse board on Jan. 16. The board says it has set up a committee to review the offer and other alternatives for maximizing shareholder value.
Brookfield, which has $225 billion in assets under management worldwide, already owns about one-third of Rouse. The latter comprises a 24 million-square-foot portfolio of 35 properties spun off from General Growth Properties in 2012.
