Brookfield Adds Australian Supply-Chain Firm to U.S. Housing Play
Brookfield Asset Management will acquire Reliance Worldwide Corp. for approximately A$4.1 billion ($2.9 billion) in an all-cash transaction. The offer prices Reliance shares at A$4.75 each, representing a 32% premium to the August 17 closing price, one day before the companies announced they were in talks. Goldman Sachs advised Reliance on the deal.
Reliance Worldwide, founded in 1949, manufactures plumbing supplies including its Sharkbite push-to-connect fittings, which allow installation without specialist tools. Around 60% of the company’s revenue comes from the United States construction and housing markets, with the remainder generated in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, and the Middle East. Brookfield’s purchase gives it direct exposure to U.S. residential construction activity through a supplier with distribution across multiple geographies.
Brookfield has been expanding its Australian holdings across real estate, infrastructure, and private equity. Recent investments include a December agreement to acquire National Storage REIT with Singapore’s GIC, plus existing ownership of electricity and gas distributor AusNet Services and fiber-cabling company Uniti. The Reliance acquisition follows a pattern of buying infrastructure and supply-chain assets tied to property development and occupancy.
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