Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management said on Tuesday it would buy Forest City Realty Trust Inc in a deal valued at US$11.4 billion, including debt, months after Forest City ceded board control to activist shareholders.
Forest City had been looking to sell itself and had reached out to more than 50 potential buyers, but failed to strike a deal. In March, it abandoned the sale process before settling with three shareholders to have nine directors resign and largely be replaced by independent nominees.
Brookfield said it would pay US$25.35 in cash for each Forest City share. The offer represents a premium of about 10 percent to Forest City’s Monday close of US$23.02.
Shares of Cleveland, Ohio-based Forest City were trading at US$25.03.
The deal is for US$6.77 billion, according to Reuters calculations, excluding debt.
Forest City’s portfolio includes office space, life science assets, retail space and multifamily units, as well as large-scale projects in New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
Bloomberg reported in June that Forest City had restarted talks with Brookfield for a buyout.
(Reporting by John Benny in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
(This story has been edited by Kirk Falconer, editor of PE Hub Canada)
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