Brookfield eyes big private equity push

Canadian property behemoth’s buyout business has only $7.7B in assets under management -- well behind Blackstone, Carlyle

Brookfield's Bruce Flatt and a rendering of Manhattan West viewed from the High Line
Brookfield's Bruce Flatt and a rendering of Manhattan West viewed from the High Line

Brookfield Asset Management, the massive, fast-growing Toronto-based alternative asset manager, is plotting a major expansion of its private equity business.

The firm is looking to challenge buyout giants the Blackstone Group, the Carlyle Group and KKR.

It has a ways to go. Brookfield’s private equity division, which is expected to be spun off from the parent company in the next few months, currently has only $7.7 billion under management.

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That’s compared to $91 billion for Blackstone and $63 billion for Carlyle.

Still, the company – whose Brookfield Property Partners division is building the $8.6 billion Manhattan West project along with the Qatar Investment Authority – is not to be counted out. BAM has increased its book value nearly tenfold since Flatt took up his position back in 2002, outperforming iconic investment firms like Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, Bloomberg reported.

Dennis Friedrich, who headed Brookfield Property Partners’ global office arm since 2012, announced he’d be retiring this week amid rumors he saw the firm’s increasing complexity diminishing his future role. [Bloomberg]Ariel Stulberg