Brookfield Unit to Buy Associated Estates for $1.7 Billion

A unit of Brookfield Asset Management Inc. agreed to buy Associated Estates Realty Corp., a U.S. apartment landlord that had been under pressure from an activist investor, for about $1.7 billion.

Brookfield will pay $28.75 a share in cash for the Richmond Heights, Ohio-based company, according to a statement Wednesday. The price is about 17 percent more than Associated Estates’ closing price on Tuesday. Including debt, the deal is valued at about $2.5 billion, the companies said.