Brookfield to buy Johnson Controls' half of joint venture for US$200 million

The Toronto-based company had formed the joint venture in 1993 with Johnson Controls of Milwaukee, WI, a diversified technology company that operates in three business segments – buildings, automotive and power.

Brookfield Johnson Controls – which employs 2,000 people in Canada and about 800 in Australia – provides its customers with services needed to run a building – from data systems and telecom to heating, lighting, catering, janitorial services, landscaping and snow removal.

Brookfield Asset Management, a global player in the commercial real estate industry, said the termination of its joint venture agreements will allow it to build on client relationships.

“As the largest property owner in the United States, expansion to the U.S. was always natural, but not feasible under our previous agreements,” Cyrus Madon, CEO of Brookfield Capital Partners, said in a statement from New York City.

“The consolidation of our Canadian and Australian businesses is a first step toward our goal of creating a global, industry leader in facilities management.”

Brookfield Johnson Controls provides a wide range of services such as operating and maintaining properties, lease administration, and energy and utility management.

Brookfield Asset currently has about $200 billion of assets under management, focused primarily on real estate, renewable power generation and the forestry sector.

The company and its partners are involved in a wide range of real estate businesses, including Brookfield Property Partners L.P., which has interests in 168 office properties in North America, Australia and the United Kingdom including Brookfield Place and First Canadian Place in Toronto, Bankers Hall in Calgary, and Bank of America Plaza in Los Angeles.