Workers will be lured back to the office, Brookfield chief says

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Investors are underestimating the speed and extent to which people will return to work in offices and head back to shopping malls as the pandemic subsides, according to the head of Brookfield Asset Management.

Bruce Flatt, chief executive of the Canadian investment group, is preparing to complete a US$5.9-billion deal to delist Brookfield’s property arm amid frustration that the equity market does not recognize the value of Brookfield’s vast real estate portfolio.

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Highlighting the return of office workers in Shanghai, Dubai and Australia as a sign of things to come, Flatt told the Financial Times: “Clearly there are differing views about real estate securities. Some people think people won’t go back to the office and that retail will be done online.”

The result is that real estate holdings “are not trading at tangible value,” he said. “It’s the right thing to take it private.”

Even before commercial real estate was hit hard by pandemic lockdowns, the share price of New York-listed Brookfield Property Partners had fallen from a high of US$25 in 2017, despite Brookfield’s view that its U.S. and global holdings of office buildings, shopping malls, self-storage facilities and logistics hubs were properly valued at US$27.

The delisting would allow Brookfield to swap out public shareholders for private investors with a longer-term horizon.

“We had the wrong structure in the marketplace,” said Flatt.

Brookfield has offered US$16.50 per share in cash for the rest of the property arm it does not own, and expects to end up with about 90 per cent of the business, up from its current stake of 60 per cent. After that, it can set about restructuring the portfolio, out of the public eye.

“Our intention is to take assets and place them with institutional investors over time,” said Flatt.

Having helmed Brookfield since 2002 and with the company since 1990, Canada-born Flatt has experienced plenty of ups and downs as the business has expanded across multiple asset classes. Controlling US$540 billion of assets under management, the parent company has four listed affiliates handling renewables, infrastructure and private equity as well as property.

News of the buyout proposal this month sent shares in Brookfield Property Partners up 17.5 per cent to trade a tenth lower than they did a year ago before the pandemic began.

The business has been hit by tenants not paying rents and has slashed staff, announced plans to sell a number of properties and renegotiated a US$6.4-billion credit facility with lenders in July.

Addressing the future of shopping malls, Flatt said Brookfield and its tenants needed to do better and focus on combining online trading with a physical store presence.

As for office life, he argued for the importance of water-cooler conversations and their role in building a strong culture. “In business and life there are always problems and having a personal connection with others helps you work through those situations. That’s why office spaces are important,” said Flatt.

Brookfield Asset Management has been back in its New York office since June, and even took on another floor and a half because, pre-pandemic, a third of its staff would have been travelling on business. Three-quarters of the 750 New York-based staff are now working in the office, with vulnerable workers staying at home until vaccinations are available, said Flatt.

© 2021 The Financial Times Ltd