Brookfield Property Partners has begun the process of selling assets to pay down the debt it used to fund its acquisition Brookfield Office Properties.
The North American property giant borrowed $1.5bn (£960m) to finance the acquisition of the remaining share in the company in June last year.
Chief executive Ric Clark said the company was seeking to capitalise on current market conditions by selling assets to pay down the debt.
“One of our primary objectives for the year is to pay off this acquisition debt,” he said.
“Given the robust private asset sale market, raising proceeds through asset sales has been the most efficient source of capital to accomplish this goal.”
Brookfield has so far disposed of three US assets for a total of around $650m and is looking to complete the sale of an interest in 99 Bishopsgate, EC2, in the third quarter.
The sale of a 49% interest in 75 State Street in Boston, Massachusetts, the remaining interest in Washington Park in Seattle and a 49% stake in eight Washington DC office assets will help the company pay down about $500m of the existing loan facilities.
By completing the sale of the a stake in 99 Bishopsgate to QIA and China Life, Brookfield expects the facility to be cut by more than 75% by the year end to just $475m.
Brookfield also said it will look to dispose of a further $1bn of mature assets by the end of the year, completing the repayment and further reducing the debt held across the company.
