type public traded as tsx bam.a nyse bam euronext bama s & p tsx 60 component industry asset management founded 1899 founder william mackenzie frederick stark pearson headquarters brookfield place toronto ontario canada area served global key people frank j. mckenna 1 chairman of the board bruce flatt 2 ceo services financial services revenue 19.9 bn 2015 3 operating income 2 160 mn 2015 net income 4.7 bn 2015 3 aum 226.8 bn 2015 3 total equity 57.2 bn 2015 3 number of employees 28 000 4 subsidiaries brookfield property partners 5 brookfield infrastructure partners brookfield renewable energy partners brookfield capital partners brookfield investment management brookfield canada office properties 6 brookfield multiplex brookfield incorpora es 7 brookfield office properties brookfield residential brookfield real estate services 8 brookfield global integrated solutions brookfield global relocation services brookfield financial brookfield rps website www.brookfield.com brookfield asset management inc. is a global alternative asset manager with over 200 billion of assets under management focusing on the real asset sectors of property renewable energy and infrastructure . 9 the firm s assets are concentrated in property renewable power infrastructure and private equity . 9 the company was founded in 1899 as a builder and operator of electricity and transport infrastructure in brazil ; the company s earlier name of brascan reflected this history brasil canada . 10 the company provided electricity and tram services in s o paulo and rio de janeiro and the brazilian side after the split is still known as light short for brazilian traction light and power co. ltd. 11 over the next century the company expanded and it is now an owner and operator of approximately 220 billion of real assets with 28 000 employees in over 100 offices in 20 different countries . 12 the company s major public subsidiaries include brookfield renewable energy partners brookfield property partners brookfield canada office properties brookfield incorpora es brookfield office properties brookfield residential properties inc. brookfield infrastructure partners and brookfield real estate services . 5 6 7 8 contents 1 assets 2 management 3 history 3.1 1899 1979 3.2 2005 2009 3.2.1 mergers and acquisitions 3.2.2 birch mountain class action 3.3 2010 2012 3.3.1 launch of brookfield renewable energy partners 3.3.2 general growth properties 3.3.3 kerzner lawsuit 3.3.4 s o paulo brazil 3.3.5 brookfield property partners launched 3.3.6 city of london acquisition 3.3.7 investments in brazil chile and maine 3.4 2013 3.4.1 mpg office trust inc. 3.4.2 brookfield cold storage launched 3.4.3 longview timber and longview fibre sales 3.4.4 carson block mentions brookfield in article 3.4.5 acquisition of industrial developments international 3.5 2014 3.5.1 texas utility energy 3.5.2 acquisition of irish wind farms 3.6 2015 3.6.1 canary wharf 3.6.2 acquisition of graftech north american palladium and armtec 3.6.3 associated estates 3.6.4 asciano 3.7 2016 4 see also 5 references 6 external links assets edit property 126 billion 7 power 22 billion 7 infrastructure 31 billion 7 public securities 18 billion 7 private equity 21 billion 7 development activities 7 billion 4 the company s asset management offerings are focused on real assets but also include alternative type investments structured financial products traditional fixed income and equities and finite risk reinsurance . 13 in addition brookfield asset management owns a significant stake in a real estate services company offering home relocations property appraisals move in services and home transaction closing services and capital market services including financial advisory securities underwriting and property brokerage . 14 brookfield asset management invests through public listed companies and through private funds . the company s institutional clients mainly include governments sovereign wealth funds pension plans institutions corporations and high net worth individuals . 15 16 the company s corporate headquarters are located in toronto and new york city . brookfield has 23 billion of assets under management in canada 134 billion invested in the united states 15 billion invested in australia and asia 20 billion in south america and 12 billion in the uk western europe and the middle east . 7 its major real estate investments include brookfield place formerly known as the world financial center in new york canary wharf in london owned with qatar s sovereign wealth fund first canadian place in toronto the bank of america plaza in los angeles and houston s allen center complex . 17 18 19 other investments include brookfield infrastructure partners transelec and brookfield renewable energy partners . brookfield s infrastructure assets include a major australian railway and coal terminal and several european ports . 20 21 22 it used to control such major canadian companies as noranda inc. falconbridge limited john labatt royal trust macmillan bloedel and london life . 23 management edit j. bruce flatt is senior managing partner and chief executive officer . mr. flatt was appointed to this position in february 2002 after having served as chief executive officer of brookfield properties since 2000 . 23 24 he was trained as an accountant at clarkson gordon and company which is now part of ernst & young . 19 as of fiscal year 2014 his basic compensation was 6.65 million . 25 mr. flatt is senior managing partner and chief executive officer of the corporation and on behalf of the corporation is the chairman and a director of general growth properties incorporated . mr. flatt previously served as a board member to fraser papers and norbord incorporated . 25 mr. flatt holds a business degree from the university of manitoba . 19 history edit 1899 1979 edit in 1899 the s o paulo railway light and power company was founded by william mackenzie frederick stark pearson and others . the word railway would later be changed to tramway . in 1904 the rio de janeiro tramway light and power company was founded by mackenzie s group . 26 in 1912 brazilian traction light and power company limited was incorporated in toronto as a public company to develop hydro electric power operations and other utility services in brazil becoming a holding company for the two previous companies . 27 in 1916 great lakes power company limited was incorporated to provide hydro electric power in sault ste. marie and the algoma district in ontario . 28 in 1966 brazilian traction light and power company limited changed its name to brazilian light and power company limited . in 1969 brazilian light and power company limited changes its name to brascan limited bl 27 in 1979 the company s brazilian assets were transferred to brazilian ownership e.g. eletropaulo and light s.a. the company meanwhile having diversified to other areas . 27 2005 2009 edit mergers and acquisitions edit in 2005 the company changed its name to brookfield asset management bam . as part of a number of purchases in 2007 brookfield acquired multiplex group construction company for 6.1 billion and renamed it brookfield multiplex . it also acquired longview fibre company expanding its timberland platform to 2.5 million acres 10 000 km . in 2008 brookfield infrastructure partners was spun out of the holding company and subsequently merged with australia s prime infrastructure in a 1 billion transaction . birch mountain class action edit the birch mountain class action lawsuit arose out of allegations that a brookfield affiliate used a 31.5 million convertible debenture position to transfer assets from birch mountain resources . 29 in a process supervised by the alberta courts pricewaterhousecoopers pwc was appointed receiver of birch mountain resources in november 2008 at the request of tricap partners ltd. after birch mountain had defaulted on its debts . the assets included nearly 1 billion tonnes of limestone reserves making it a megaquarry along with permits and leases for limestone and other minerals covering over 700 000 additional acres . the assets from the hammerstone quarry project were valued at over 1.6 billion dollars in an independent ni 43 101 technical report conducted by amec in 2006 . 30 the assets were transferred to tricap partners ltd now operating under the hammerstone corporation a subsidiary of brookfield special situations group for approximately 50 million . 31 a group called birch mountain shareholders for justice filed a lawsuit against brookfield asset management on september 22 2010 with the superior court of justice in ontario canada . the ongoing lawsuit challenges the acquisition and transfer of assets from a public company birch mountain resources to the hammerstone corporation . 32 an amended statement of claim was filed in the court of queen s bench of alberta with former nhl star lanny mcdonald as the representative plaintiff on may 27 2014 . 33 the case was dismissed in its entirety after the judge ruled it had no legal merit in april 2015 . 34 on may 25 2015 the plaintiffs filed a notice of appeal in the case and the appeal factum is due november 18 2015 . on november 23 2015 the appellant filed an appeal from the order of the honourable madam justice strekaf dated and filed april 30 2015 in mcdonald v. brookfield asset management inc. in the court of appeal alberta . the appeal was heard on june 15 2016 over the hammerstone project megaquarry in alberta and a decision is forthcoming . 35 2010 2012 edit launch of brookfield renewable energy partners edit in 2010 brookfield renewable energy partners was launched as an exchange listed global renewable power company with a portfolio of hydroelectric and wind power plants in canada the united states and brazil . general growth properties edit also in 2010 brookfield led a successful restructuring of general growth properties the second largest owner of u.s. shopping malls out of bankruptcy after rebuffing simon property group s attempt to acquire ggp . 24 in 2011 the company increased its share of general growth properties to 38 % . 36 by 2012 brookfield s stake in ggp grew to 42 % which prompted investor activist william ackman to request that ggp create a special committee unaffiliated with brookfield to consider a sale to simon . 37 on dec. 31 2012 pershing square agreed to sell a portfolio of its stake in ggp to brookfield and struck a four year agreement to be a passive investor in the shopping mall company . 38 by may 2014 pershing square had sold all of its shares in ggp . 39 kerzner lawsuit edit in january 2012 two hedge fund creditors trilogy portfolio co. and canyon value realization fund lp in a loan with brookfield filed a lawsuit in delaware chancery court in wilmington asking that the court restrain brookfield s attempt to acquire the kerzner international properties from closing . 40 41 in the lawsuit the hedge funds alleged that brookfield engaged in brazen self dealing and collusion with junior lender pccp and servicer wells fargo to complete the deal in violation of the loan agreement . 42 the court granted a temporary injunction pending a hearing . brookfield consequently cancelled its offer to acquire the property . 43 brookfield walked away after a delaware judge issued the injunction . 42 the two hedge funds subsequently agreed to a restructuring that allowed brookfield to acquire the one & only ocean club in the bahamas atlantis paradise island resort in the bahamas and the one & only palmilla resort in mexico . 44 45 brookfield subsequently sold the one & only ocean club to access industries for 140 million . 46 s o paulo brazil edit in 2012 brazilian authorities announced that they were investigating allegations that an executive at brookfield bribed s o paulo building officials to secure permits required for renovating three shopping malls . 47 the allegations were made by daniela gonzalez the former chief financial officer of a brookfield subsidiary in brazil who was fired by brookfield in 2010 . 48 the alleged bribes reportedly totaled 789 851 . silvio antonio marques a s o paulo state prosecutor confirmed the civil and criminal investigations to the wall street journal and added that the reporting individual also provided documentation of the misconduct by brookfield employees . a