The nation’s second-largest shopping mall operator, General Growth Properties Inc., said Wednesday that it reached a deal with Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management Inc. that will speed its exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Speculation raged for weeks that General Growth might turn to Brookfield, which has been looking to expand its slate of U.S. retail properties and last year acquired an undisclosed stake in the company.
General Growth, in turn, could thwart last week’s $10 billion takeover bid from Simon Property Group Inc. The No. 1 shopping mall operator controls some 382 properties worldwide including the Regency Plaza center in St. Charles, St. Louis Mills mall in Hazelwood and Lincoln Crossing in O’Fallon, Ill.
General Growth rebuffed the unsolicited offer from Simon for being too low cash advance to savings account. A Simon spokeswoman didn’t have a comment.
General Growth owns or manages 200 shopping malls in 44 states, including St. Louis Galleria. The company racked up $27 billion in debt by the time it sought shelter from creditors last April, making it the largest real estate bankruptcy case in U.S. history.
As part of the new plan, General Growth would spin off some assets as a new company named General Growth Opportunities, which would essentially hold assets the company concedes aren’t producing much income currently, including the company’s master planned communities and some large retail hubs, such as the South Street Seaport in New York.
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