Back in September I wrote this post about a possible move by Simon Property Group to acquire some or all of General Growth Property’s assets. Simon has now hired a financial advisor and a law firm to help them do just that.
According to this story in yesterdays ChicagoRealEstateDaily.Com, Simon has hired Lazard, Ltd and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to “help the company come up with a plan for a possible offer for all or some of General Growth Properties Inc.”
Of course this is still a long way from actually acquiring the company. Simon is the largest owner of malls in the US and GGP is the second largest so there will undoubtedly be anti trust concerns.
The same story also mentions that GGP is “near a deal with lenders to rework $11.5 billion in securitized mortgages,” which would put them in a good position to emerge from bankruptcy next summer intact.
None of this should really affect GGP’s plans for Town Center. If Simon does up end up acquiring GGP they would most likely proceed with the plans with the same development team in place now. The company doesn’t currently have the master plan communities’ expertise that GGP has.
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