ANNAPOLIS, MD—Last week, GlobeSt.com reported on Brookfield Asset Management's acquisition of Thayer Lodging Group, a locally based hotel investment company. The move was a shift from Toronto-based Brookfield's typical investments in the “four core” real estate sectors. As for Thayer, it will continue to operate as usual, focusing on its investment management, asset management and property management businesses, but as a subsidiary of Brookfield.

Meanwhile, Thayer president Bruce Wiles will continue to run the operations and oversee employees. Leland C. Pillsbury and Fred V. Malek, Thayer's co-founders and chairmen, will serve as co-chairmen & co-heads of Global Lodging of the new company and as senior advisors to Brookfield.

The deal came as a surprise to industry observers, since Thayer wasn't on the market and Brookfield isn't typically a player in the lodging sector. In a conversation with GlobeSt.com, Pillsbury explained that the firm's management got to know Brookfield last year and “quickly came to understand the mutual benefit of a potential association. For Thayer, Brookfield provides a robust capital source for future deals. For Brookfield, we provide a portal to attractive real estate investment opportunities, a proven value-added operating partner, and a profitable operating platform in the hotel industry.”