The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that Brookfield Asset Management has held preliminary discussions with GGP Inc. about acquiring the stake in the mall owner that it does not already own and taking the company private. A Bloomberg dispatch to The Globe says that the companies have discussed a premium of about 10 to 15 per cent above GGP's share price as of the start of this week. Talks are at an early stage. Shares of GGP rose as much as 16 per cent, the most in six years, to $22.10 (U.S.) on Tuesday, valuing the company at around $20-billion. In the third quarter, Brookfield's real estate unit 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 $462-million (U.S.). Brookfield took a stake in GGP as part of an agreement to take the company out of bankruptcy in 2010. It acquired additional GGP warrants in January, 2013, and agreed to not increase its stake beyond 45 per cent for the next four years. The spectre of mergers and acquisitions on the horizon could provide a boost to beleaguered mall operators, according to Haendel St. Juste, an analyst at Mizuho Securities.