Brookfield buying Forest City Realty Trust for $11.4 billion including debt

TORONTO — Brookfield Asset Management Inc. says it will buy Forest City Realty Trust Inc. for $11.4 billion including debt.

The asset manager says it has entered into a definitive agreement with the Cleveland-based property trust acquire its shares in an all-cash transaction.

The acquisition will give Brookfield control of Forest City’s 6.3 million square feet of office space, 2.3 million square feet of life science assets mostly in the Cambridge, Mass. area, and 2.2 million square feet of retail space.

Forest City also has five large-scale development projects in the New York area, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. and 18,500 multi-family units for a total portfolio of more than 18 million square feet that will also be part of the deal.

Brookfield is offering $25.35 per share for Forest City, which it says is a 26.6. per cent premium to the company’s closing price on June 15, a day before recent market speculation on a possible deal.

The deal marks the second major U.S. property buy for Brookfield this year after it agreed to take over property trust GGP Inc.

The Canadian Press