ONE of the biggest brands to emerge from Western Australia is to disappear from building sites across Australia and New Zealand, with construction giant Multiplex Group changing its name to Brookfield Multiplex Ltd. Muliplex subsidiary companies within the group will be rebranded with the new name, while the company’s premium residential brand, Multiplex Living, will remain. The new branding follows the de-listing of Multiplex from the Australian Securities Exchange in December last year after it accepted a $4.2 billion takeover offer from Canadian private equity player, Brookfield Asset Management Inc. Brookfield Multiplex chief executive Ross McDiven said the new name was consistent with the organisation’s focus to combine the rich heritage and established strength of the Multiplex brand in Australasia with the rapidly growing global presence of Brookfield Asset Management. Founded in Perth in 1962 by the late John Roberts, Multiplex listed in December 2003 and has grown to become a global construction, property development and fund management company. Brookfield manages $83 billion in property, power and timber assets in Europe and North America. Newsmaker: Former state government minister, John Bowler, has announced he will stand for the seat of Kalgoorlie as an independent at the next state election, due in early 2009. Mr Bowler left the ministry and the Labor Party last year after revelations in the Corruption and Crime Commission that he leaked a draft parliamentary report to lobbyist Julian Grill. The planned retirement of current Kalgoorlie member, former Liberal Party leader Matt Birney, has opened up the seat to new candidates. Mr Bowler said he believed his promining stance and knowledge of the resources industry in Western Australia would strike a chord with Kalgoorlie voters and deliver him a third term in parliament. “There’s hardly anyone in parliament at the moment with the corporate and technical knowledge of mining matters,” he told WA Business News
