GLOBAL - Prudential Financial, the second-biggest life insurance company in the US, has sold its real estate brokerage and relocation business to a real estate unit of Canadian fund manager Brookfield Asset Management for approximately $110m (€82m).
Graham Badun, chief executive at Brookfield Residential Property Services, said the deal would create a "global employee relocation services and real estate franchising leader".
Some brokerages will be able to continue to operate under the Prudential brand, the companies said.
The deal also excludes a financing unit with investments in some brokerage franchises in Newark, New Jersey.
Prudential said net book value of the transferred operations from Prudential to Brookfield was about $25m as of 30 September.
The acquisition will turn Brookfield into the world's second-largest employee relocation services provider and the third-largest residential real estate franchising business.
Earl Lee, president at PRERS, who will continue to lead the US business, said: "We're excited to become part of a company that is focused on and deeply immersed in the real estate sector and is in the business for the long term."
Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management, which has approximately $150bn in assets under management, has stakes in projects ranging from commercial and residential property to power generation and infrastructure.
The latest deal boosts US-based Brookfield's existing international business and results in the expansion of its operations in nine countries, with a fast-growing presence in the UK, China, Brazil and India.
Brookfield, which had been acquiring smaller peers in the business, is already one of the largest brokerages in North America, with a presence in 50 US states and 10 Canadian provinces.
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