Brookfield Asset Management Inc. plans to invest US$5 billion to help struggling retailers due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Through its retail revitalization program, Brookfield and its institutional partners will provide capital and assist with the recapitalization of retail businesses with operations in the major markets in which the company operates globally. The program will focus on non-control investments in retail businesses to assist with their capital needs.

This program will be led by Ron Bloom, managing partner and vice chairman of Brookfield’s Private Equity Group. He was a principal architect of the restructuring and rejuvenation of the automobile industry on behalf of the U.S. government during the 2008 financial crisis.

“This initiative is being designed to assist medium sized enterprises in getting back on their feet. We believe this is a critical component to getting the economy moving again, and we would like to partner with companies and entrepreneurs that can draw on our capital and expertise to stabilize and grow their business,” stated Bloom.

In addition to capital, Brookfield intends to make available its resources and expertise with a focus on supporting long-term business performance. “We look forward to contributing capital and expertise to support the retail sector through this time and position businesses for long-term success,” added Bloom.

The retail revitalization program will focus on retail businesses that have $250 million or greater in normalized revenues and have been operating for at least two years.