Brookfield moves to simplify structure of its North American property arm

The largest shareholder of Brookfield Canada Office Properties is offering to buy the rest of the real estate trust's equity for $30.10 cash per unit, a 14.8 per cent premium to Friday's closing price in Toronto.

Brookfield Property Partners LP says its purchase of the remaining BOX units would simplify BPY's structure and fully integrate the company's North American office operations.

Among the prominent office towers in the Brookfield Canada Office portfolio are Brookfield Place and First Canadian Place in Toronto and Bankers Hall in Calgary.

Brookfield Property Partners has 149 premier office properties and 126 retail malls around the world in its portfolio, making it one of the world's largest commercial real estate companies.

Both BOX and BPY list the shares on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges.

They are part of the Brookfield Asset Management group of companies, which manages about $250-billion (U.S.) in assets through direct and indirect investments in a variety of public and private entities.