Canada’s Brookfield to list 25% of asset management unit

(Reuters) – Brookfield Asset Management Inc said on Thursday it will separate and list 25% of the stake in its asset management unit, months after the Toronto-based company said it was considering the move to open up growth options.

The company will initially hold a 75% stake in the new entity, with the rest distributed to its current shareholders by the year end, Brookfield said.

Both the parent company and the separated unit will trade on the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange, the company said.

In February, Brookfield Asset Management Chief Executive Officer Bruce Flatt wrote in a letter to shareholders the company was “asset-heavy” compared to most of its peers, and that dimmed its appeal to some.

The split could also potentially attract interest from investors who do not want exposure to Brookfield’s other units, such as the reinsurance business launched last year, Flatt wrote at the time.

Last year, Wells Fargo & Co also streamlined operations by selling its asset management arm to private equity firms GTCR LLC and Reverence Capital Partners for $2.1 billion.

(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Shinjini Ganguli)