Rouse Properties agrees to sweetened Brookfield offer: Reuters

U.S. real estate investment trust Rouse Properties Inc said Canadian alternative assets investor Brookfield Asset Management agreed to buy the company in a sweetened deal valued at about US$2.8 billion, including debt.

Brookfield’s latest cash offer of US$18.25 per share represents a premium of 2.82 percent to Rouse’s Wednesday close and values the real estate company at US$1.06 billion.

Brookfield, which is already Rouse’s biggest shareholder, had made an all-cash unsolicited offer last month to buy all of the company’s shares it did not already own for US$17 each.

The Canadian firm, which has about US$225 billion in assets under management, owned 33 percent of Rouse as of January 16.

Rouse’s shares were trading at US$18.05 ahead of the opening bell on Thursday.

Rouse owns 35 malls and retail centres in 21 U.S. states. The company had US$1.64 billion in debt as of September 30, according to Thomson Reuters data.

BofA Merrill Lynch acted as financial adviser to Rouse Properties, and Sidley Austin LLP acted as legal counsel.

(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

(This story has been edited by Kirk Falconer, editor of PE Hub Canada)

Photo courtesy of Rouse Properties Inc