$1.2 billion buyout gives Brookfield a ready‑made industrial and IOS platform
Global alternative asset manager Brookfield Asset Management agreed to buy Peakstone Realty Trust in a $1.2 billion all‑cash deal, betting that industrial outdoor storage and warehouse assets would be key beneficiaries of the next leg of the commercial real estate cycle and the AI infrastructure build‑out.
Under the agreement, a Brookfield private real estate fund would acquire all outstanding Peakstone shares for $21 in cash, a 34% premium to Peakstone’s January 30 closing price and a 46% and 51% premium to its 30‑ and 90‑day VWAPs, respectively.
Peakstone shareholders are set to vote on the transaction, which is expected to close by the end of the second quarter of 2026, subject to customary approvals.
Premium bid caps Peakstone’s industrial pivot
“We are pleased to enter into this agreement with Brookfield, which will deliver significant value to Peakstone shareholders,” Peakstone chief executive Michael Escalante said.
“Following an offer from Brookfield, our Board of Trustees evaluated the proposed transaction with the assistance of external advisors and determined that it achieves the best value and other terms reasonably available for shareholders and is in the best interests of the Company. This transaction recognizes the value of our industrial portfolio and the progress we have made expanding our IOS platform.”
In December 2025, Peakstone completed the sale of all office properties, finishing a multi‑year shift into an industrial‑only REIT with 76 assets, including 60 industrial outdoor storage sites.
Earlier disclosures show IOS accounting for a growing share of rent as the company sold non‑core offices and recycled capital into storage yards and last‑mile locations.
“This acquisition is an exciting opportunity to expand Brookfield’s industrial real estate platform with Peakstone’s high-quality and well-diversified portfolio, which will benefit from strong long-term fundamentals for the warehouse and IOS sectors,” Lowell Baron, CEO of Brookfield’s real estate business, said.
AI data center demand reshapes industrial land
Brookfield framed the deal against surging demand for data centers and AI factories, where industrially zoned land and power‑adjacent sites are increasingly converted from logistics to digital infrastructure.
Brookfield has more than $1 trillion in assets under management across infrastructure, renewable power and transition, private equity, real estate and credit. In November 2025, it anounced that its distributable earnings rose around 7% to $661 million, with real estate among its largest fee‑earning platforms.
Peakstone, based in California, owned and operated IOS yards and traditional industrial properties in coastal and Sunbelt markets, positioning the portfolio close to ports, trucking corridors and major population centers.
Market participants already flagged IOS as a much more established niche within industrial, with private lenders saying that investor appetite for outdoor storage has grown alongside pullbacks from traditional banks.
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