Brookfield to Acquire Rouse Properties for $2.8B

Rouse Properties Inc. announced that it has agreed to be acquired by an affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management Inc. in a deal valued at approximately $2.8 billion. Rouse has entered into a definitive agreement at $18.25 per share in an all-cash transaction; Brookfield, which already owned about a third of Rouse, originally proposed to acquire the group mid-January of this year of about $2.54 billion in a deal that valued Rouse at $17.00 per share. BofA Merrill Lynch is acting as financial advisor and Sidley Austin LLP is acting as legal counsel to the Special Committee of Rouse Properties, Inc.

"The Rouse team has built a great company with a strong platform and differentiated assets," said David Kruth, chairman of the Special Committee of the board of Rouse Properties, which unanimously approved the deal. "After careful consideration, the Special Committee determined that Brookfield's increased proposal provides shareholders with compelling value as well as a high degree of execution certainty, further validating the strength of the platform that Rouse has built. We are pleased to have reached this agreement, which we believe benefits all Rouse shareholders."

Rouse Properties is among the U.S.'s largest publicly traded regional mall owners. The REIT's portfolio includes 35 malls and retail centers in 21 states encompassing approximately 24.1 million square feet.

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CalPERS Closes on $1.9B NYC Office Tower

California pension fund CalPERS has completed the acquisition of a 54-story Manhattan office building for $1.9 billion, according to documents filed with the New York City Department of Finance. The building at 787 Seventh Avenue was sold by AXA Financial, which originally acquired the building for $1.1 billion in June 2009. CalPERS acquired the office tower between West 51st and West 52nd Streets in part with a $780M first mortgage extended by Deutsche Bank, according to a Biznow article. Terms of the deal and representation were not disclosed; AXA originally announced it would put the property on the market in August 2015.

According to a Sacramento Bee article, the deal represents one of the priciest real estate investments CalPERS has ever made, and one of the largest deals in New York history. "The acquisition follows our real estate strategic plan to invest in core, income generating properties," said CalPERS spokesman Joe DeAnda in an email. The deal amounts to 7 percent of CalPERS' real estate portfolio, it reported. Major tenants of the building, currently known as the AXA Equitable Center, include Sidley Austin, UBS, BNP Paribas, and a Pret A Manger location that operates out of the ground floor.

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