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Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Brookfield agrees to buy Fairholme's GGP stake

The Fairholme Fund, run by value investor Bruce Berkowitz, struck a $1.7 billion deal to sell its remaining shares in General Growth Properties Inc GGP.N after bankrolling the mall owner's emergence from bankruptcy last year. The deal with Brookfield Asset Management Inc (BAMa.TO) sent GGP shares lower, off 1.7 percent to $14.85 in midday trading while the benchmark MSCI U.S. REIT Index .RMZ was down just 0.3 percent. "You have Bruce Berkowitz, a deep value investor, selling its shares in GGP. It could view GGP shares to be richly priced and probably sees more attractive alternative investments elsewhere," said Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analyst Benjamin Yang said. Yang has an "underperform" rating on General Growth shares.

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