Brookfield Property Partners LP bid about $14.8 billion to acquire the stake it doesn’t already hold in U.S. mall owner GGP Inc. as the companies seek to repurpose struggling bricks-and-mortar shopping centers, Bloomberg News reported today. The firm offered $23 a share for the 66 percent of GGP it doesn’t own, Brookfield said in a statement on Monday. That represents a premium of about 21 percent to Chicago-based GGP’s closing price on Nov. 6, the day before Bloomberg News reported Brookfield had held discussions about taking the company private. GGP said in a separate statement that its board has formed a special committee to review the proposal. In the third quarter, Brookfield Property exercised all of its outstanding warrants in GGP, bringing its ownership stake to 34 percent from 29 percent, the company said in a statement earlier this month. The 68 million shares were purchased for $462 million.
