Brookfield Asset Management moved on two fronts on October 13, 2025, announcing a plan to acquire the remaining 26 percent of Oaktree and, separately, a 5 billion strategic partnership with Bloom Energy to power AI data centres with onsite fuel cells, both framed as accretive to fee earnings and platform scale. In the AI initiative, Bloom becomes the preferred onsite power provider for Brookfield’s planned AI factories, with a first European site expected to be named this year, and Brookfield characterizes this as the first investment from its dedicated AI infrastructure strategy.
The Oaktree agreement totals about 3 billion, split 1.6 billion to BAM and 1.4 billion to Brookfield Corporation, with consideration in cash or shares and lock‑ups designed to limit dilution via offsetting buybacks. For TSX holders, both moves concentrate exposure to U.S. credit and digital infrastructure cash flows that are mostly USD denominated, which can cut two ways when CAD rallies. AI power is now a procurement problem, not just an engineering one. Brookfield and Bloom Energy announce partnership.
Deploy Fuel Cells To Data Centres
Behind the meter matters. Bloom’s solid oxide systems provide resilient, dispatchable power at the site, a practical fit for grid‑constrained AI campuses where interconnection queues are slow and load ramps are steep, and the partners say Brookfield will invest up to 5 billion to deploy this hardware globally under its new AI strategy, targeting speed to power and modular scale that data centre operators increasingly demand. KR Sridhar put it plainly, “AI infrastructure must be built like a factory,” a view that aligns with rapid time‑to‑power claims and the push to co‑design compute and energy for latency and resilience, while Brookfield’s AI head highlighted behind‑the‑meter solutions as essential to closing the grid gap. “AI infrastructure must be built like a factory,” said KR Sridhar.
Consolidate Oaktree To Scale Credit
On credit, Brookfield and Oaktree agreed that BAM and BN will acquire the remaining 26 percent of Oaktree for approximately 3 billion, with Oaktree holders able to elect cash, BAM shares, or BN shares, and with two and five year lock‑ups on BAM and BN share consideration respectively, while each issuer intends to repurchase shares in corresponding amounts to keep dilution minimal. Including 100 percent of Oaktree, BAM reports about 2.8 billion of fee‑related earnings over the last twelve months, and management guides to accretion at both BAM and BN following an expected Q1 2026 close, with Oaktree co‑CEOs slated to lead the combined credit franchise. “Taking this next step will allow us to broaden our credit franchise,” said Bruce Flatt, who also noted that prior collaboration has surpassed expectations and expanded private credit and wealth solutions reach.
Watch Funding Mix And Index Effects
From a Canadian holder’s perspective, the mechanics matter. The AI partnership capital is described as up to 5 billion for fuel cell deployments, so expect most dollars to flow through project vehicles with contracted offtake rather than through BAM’s corporate balance sheet, which, if structured conventionally, supports predictable fees and mitigates recourse, though execution risk remains around permitting, gas supply, service costs, and site reliability in new jurisdictions.
In parallel, BAM’s Q2 update showed 676 million quarterly fee‑related earnings and 563 billion of fee‑bearing capital, with 128 billion of uncalled commitments that can convert to roughly 540 million of annual fees once deployed, and the Oaktree step‑up should deepen credit fee durability while skewing revenue and headcount further to the U.S., potentially influencing index inclusion dynamics that the company itself flagged. Currency will move results in CAD. Brookfield Asset Management Q2 results and the Oaktree transaction disclosure provide the operating and deal terms cited here, including the plan to offset share issuance and the LTM fee‑related earnings base. Good infrastructure still needs cheap gas or firm clean power.
