As we reported last week, Canada's Brookfield wants to be the new Blackstone. (Then again, who doesn’t?) Their latest move in that direction: a $657M offer to buy the rest of mall REIT Rouse Properties.
Brookfield (CEO Bruce Flatt pictured) already owns one-third of the REIT, one of the largest mall owners in the country. The offer puts Rouse's valuation at $986M, 26% above its closing price on Friday. Rouse shares jumped 30% after the story broke.
The news is a welcome turning point for the New York-based REIT, seeing as stocks had dropped about 32% over the past year leading up to last week.
Rouse says it will create a special committee to review the unsolicited offer, which would give shareholders a nice premium on their sinking shares.
In an effort to give Blackstone a run for its money—Flatt says the asset manager will double in size over the next decade—Brookfield has stacked up on properties, including last year's blockbuster $2.5B acquisition of apartment landlord Associated Estates Realty Corp. [Bloomberg]
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