Brookfield wants to buy mall-owner GGP for $14.8 billion as the retail apocalypse intensifies

pulse

November 13, 2017 1:26 PM

Traffic to malls has been declining as more customers have chosen to shop more online

Brookfield Asset Management said Monday that it proposed to buy mall owner
Brookfield currently owns about 34% of GGP and wants to buy the rest of the company for $23 a share.
The Canadian asset manager would gain GGP's class A retail properties in urban centers at a time when foot traffic is declining because more people are shopping online.
GGP has a special committee that's looking into the proposal with Goldman Sachs as its financial advisor.

Brookfield Asset Management has proposed to buy the mall owner GGP for $14.8 billion to expand its real estate footprint.

The Canadian investor is offering $23 per share for the outstanding shares it doesn't own, it said in a statement on Monday. Brookfield already has a roughly 34% stake in GGP that it first bought in 2010 to rescue the company from bankruptcy.

The offer confirmed earlier news reports.

The combined company would own assets worth about $100 billion, Brookfield said, giving the asset manager access to more so-called class A retail spaces in urban centers.

Traffic to malls has been declining as more customers have chosen to shop online, forcing some mall owners to find other uses for their properties. More than 6,400 store closures have been announced this year by chains including Radio Shack and Kmart.

GGP was one of the worst-performing class A mall operators in the second quarter based on foot traffic, which fell 5.7% on a rolling quarterly basis through May, according to a report by the data-intelligence firm Thasos.

In a separate statement, GGP acknowledged that it received the offer on Saturday, and has created a special committee to look into it. Goldman Sachs will work with the committee as financial advisor.

GGP shares rose 4% premarket to $23.50, topping the offer price.

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