Private Equity · Profile from Private Equity Research Companion
Brookfield Asset Management
Toronto/New York-based global alternative asset manager with roots in a 1899 Brazilian utility, transformed under Bruce Flatt into one of the world's largest owner-operators of real assets — real estate, infrastructure, renewable power and transition, private equity — and, via Oaktree, credit. Its edge: long-duration capital, operating expertise in physical assets, and a willingness to buy in distress.
At a glance
- Origins
- 1899 — São Paulo Tramway, Light and Power Company (later Brazilian Traction / Brascan)
- Modern era
- Edper (Edward & Peter Bronfman) control from 1979; renamed Brookfield Asset Management in 2005; Bruce Flatt CEO since 2002
- Listings
- Brookfield Corporation (BN) — parent/capital allocator; Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. (BAM) — pure-play asset manager (spun out December 2022; fully consolidated asset-management business 2025); listed affiliates BIP/BIPC (infrastructure), BEP/BEPC (renewables), BBU/BBUC (business services/industrials); Brookfield Wealth Solutions (BWS) (insurance)
- AUM
- ~$1 trillion (2025, company-reported; ~$550bn+ fee-bearing capital — approximate)
- Strategies
- Infrastructure, Renewable Power & Transition, Private Equity, Real Estate, Credit (Oaktree + Brookfield credit), Insurance Solutions
- Notable deals
- GGP recap, Westinghouse, Oaktree, Clarios, Genesee & Wyoming, Inter Pipeline, Triton, Neoen, Colonial Pipeline, Healthscope (failure), Origin Energy (failed bid)
14 deals and moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2007
Multiplex
Public Takeover of an Australian Builder/Developer
2009
General Growth Properties
Bankruptcy Recapitalisation
2017
TerraForm Power
Distressed Control Acquisition from SunEdison
2018
Forest City Realty
REIT Take-Private
2018
Westinghouse Electric
Acquisition out of Chapter 11
2019
Clarios
Corporate Carve-Out
2019
Genesee and Wyoming
Infrastructure Take-Private
2019
Healthscope
Take-Private of an Australian Hospital Operator
2019
Oaktree Capital Management
Acquisition of a Majority Stake
2021
Inter Pipeline
Hostile Take-Private
2023
Origin Energy
Failed Energy-Transition Take-Private
2023
Triton International
Take-Private of the World's Largest Container Lessor
2024
Neoen
Take-Private of a French Renewable Developer
2025
Colonial Pipeline
Acquisition of the Largest US Refined-Products Pipeline