Brookfield To Acquire Mills Corp. for $7.5B

CHEVY CHASE, MD-After an extended bidding process, Canadian asset manager Brookfield Asset Management Inc. beat out hedge fund Farallon Capital Management and Gazit-Globe, an Israel-based real estate investment company, to acquire the Mills Corp.

According to a joint announcement by the two firms, Brookfield has signed a definite agreement to acquire Mills for cash at $21 per share–paying out approximately $1.35 billion for the outstanding common stock of the Mills and the Mills LP. The all-in price, including debt, is $7.5 billion. (CORRECTION: The GlobeSt.com Breaking News Alert overstated the price.)

Brookfield is forming a new subsidiary in which to merge Mills. It is also providing the company with debt financing until the merger is complete, taking on the Mills’ $1-billion senior term loan from Goldman Sachs Mortgage Co. The company had until March 31 to repay the loan. In a recent SEC filing the company stated it might have to seek bankruptcy protection because of the looming deadline. Brookfield is also providing a $500-million revolving line of credit.