Brookfield Property Partners LP (BPY_u.TO) agreed to acquire the portion of GGP Inc. it doesn’t already own and take over the second-largest U.S. mall owner. 

The real estate unit of Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management Inc. will pay US$9.25 billion for GGP, the companies said Monday in a statement. GGP shareholders will receive either US$23.50 a share in cash, one Brookfield unit or shares of a new real estate investment trust. The Chicago-based landlord had rejected Brookfield’s November offer of US$7.4 billion in cash.

Brookfield is pouncing as shares of mall companies take a beating with e-commerce putting a squeeze on brick-and-mortar retailers. Store closures are accelerating, pressuring landlords to fill empty space and reinvent their properties, and companies including Brookfield have been focusing on buying and revamping shopping centers to take advantage of the land they occupy in urban areas. GGP Chief Executive Officer Sandeep Mathrani is among those looking for ways to repurpose struggling malls.

Mathrani said last May that GGP was exploring strategic alternatives, and that all options were on the table. In August, he reversed course and said the real estate investment trust would instead look to diversify its holdings by adding hotels, apartments and other alternative uses to its properties.

In the third quarter, Brookfield Property exercised all of its outstanding warrants in GGP, bringing its ownership stake to 34 per cent from 29 per cent. The 68 million shares were purchased for US$462 million. Then, in November, Brookfield offered US$23 a share to acquire the rest of GGP.