Brookfield Asset Management will buy Peakstone Realty Trust for one point two billion (bn) US dollars as part of a push to expand its industrial real estate platform and tap rising demand linked to artificial intelligence data centres. The transaction is intended to strengthen Brookfield's presence in the warehouse and industrial outdoor storage sector. Peakstone's shares rose about 33 per cent in early trading after the announcement. The move reflects investors' appetite for assets that can serve AI infrastructure needs.

Brookfield plans to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Peakstone for 21 per share in cash, a price that represents a premium of 34 per cent to Peakstone's share price on the prior trading day. The companies expect the transaction to close by the end of the second quarter. The cash offer is intended to provide immediate value to Peakstone shareholders while enabling integration with Brookfield's industrial portfolio.

California-based Peakstone's portfolio comprises 76 industrial properties, including 60 industrial outdoor storage properties and 16 traditional industrial properties. The company completed the sale of all its office properties in December as it sharpened its focus towards becoming an industrial-only real estate investment trust. The repositioning made the trust a target for investors seeking exposure to outdoor storage and logistics assets.

Citigroup Global Markets is serving as Brookfield's financial adviser on the deal and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher is acting as legal adviser. Brookfield indicated it will use the acquisition to expand capacity in outdoor storage and warehouse offerings that can support deployment of computing equipment and related infrastructure. The strategy is aligned with broader trends in logistics and data centre supply chains.

Industry observers have noted that demand for warehouses has risen alongside booming investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure, which has driven the creation of more data centres over recent years. Brookfield's chief executive had indicated at a conference that governments and large cloud companies were seeking to warehouse computing capacity, underscoring the strategic rationale for the deal.