Brookfield Completes $886 Million Acquisition of Verde Realty

HOUSTON, TEXAS--(Marketwire - Dec. 21, 2012) - Brookfield (TSX:BAM.A)(NYSE:BAM)(EURONEXT:BAMA) announced today that it has closed the acquisition of a majority ownership position in Verde Realty ("Verde"), positioning the company for strong growth as an owner, operator and developer of industrial distribution facilities in the United States and Mexico.

Through this transaction, an investment vehicle managed by Brookfield will control approximately 81% of the common equity in Verde, with the remaining equity retained primarily by some existing Verde shareholders.

Verde owns 111 industrial distribution facilities comprised of 18 million square feet of space in major U.S. distribution markets and gateway trade markets along the U.S. and Mexican border, as well as over 20,000 acres of land intended for future sale and development. Under new ownership, the company plans to expand its holdings and seek consolidation opportunities in the fragmented industrial real estate sector.

"We look forward to building on our reputation for delivering well located, high quality distribution facilities for our clients and executing our growth strategy that includes acquisitions and property development," commented Ronald Blankenship, Chief Executive Officer of Verde.

"Verde is a scalable, cornerstone investment in the industrial property sector that positions Brookfield to expand its real estate platform into the logistics arena to capitalize on the evolving global supply chain," said David Arthur, Managing Partner at Brookfield Asset Management.

About Verde

Verde, a Maryland real estate investment trust, is a fully integrated, self-administered and self-managed REIT that specializes in the ownership, acquisition and management of industrial distribution facilities. Verde's existing operating portfolio is composed primarily of industrial distribution facilities in the southwestern United States, California, suburban Chicago, Maryland, Utah and northern Mexico.

Brookfield Asset Management Inc. is a global alternative asset manager with more than $150 billion in assets under management. The company has over a 100-year history of owning and operating assets with a focus on property, renewable power, infrastructure and private equity. Brookfield has a range of public and private investment products and services, which leverage our expertise and experience and provide us with a competitive advantage in the markets where we operate. Brookfield is co-listed on the New York and Toronto Stock Exchanges under the symbol BAM and BAM.A, respectively, and on NYSE Euronext under the symbol BAMA. For more information, please visit our website at www.brookfield.com.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Information

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian provincial securities laws and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and in any applicable Canadian securities regulations. Forward-looking statements include statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, include statements regarding the operations, business, financial condition, expected financial results, performance, prospects, opportunities, priorities, targets, goals, ongoing objectives, strategies and outlook of Brookfield and Verde, as well as the outlook for North American and international economies for the current fiscal year and subsequent periods, and include words such as "plans", "seeks" or negative versions thereof and other similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as "may," "will," "should," "would" and "could".

Although we believe that our anticipated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements and information are based upon reasonable assumptions and expectations, the reader should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond our control, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Brookfield and Verde to differ materially from anticipated future results, performance or achievement expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and information.

Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated or implied by forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: the impact or unanticipated impact of general economic, political and market factors in the countries in which we do business; the behavior of financial markets, including fluctuations in interest and foreign exchanges rate; global equity and capital markets and the availability of equity and debt financing and refinancing within these markets; the risk that Verde will not be integrated successfully with and into Brookfield's organization; the risk that cost savings and any other synergies from the transaction may not be fully realized or may take longer to realize than expected; disruption from the transaction making it more difficult to maintain relationships with customers or employees; business competition; operational and reputational risks; technological change; changes in government regulation and legislation within the countries in which we operate, catastrophic events, such as earthquakes and hurricanes; the possible impact of international conflicts and other developments including terrorist acts; and other risks and factors detailed from time to time in Brookfield's documents filed with the securities regulators in Canada and the United States.

We caution that the foregoing list of important factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive. When relying on our forward-looking statements, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. Except as required by law, Brookfield and Verde undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether written or oral, that may be as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.