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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowSimon Property Group Inc. may sell several of its properties in Europe to help raise funds for a possible bid for bankrupt rival General Growth Properties.
A report from French financial news service Wansquare published Monday said the Indianapolis-based mall giant is "close to" a deal to sell five malls in France and one in Poland to Unibail Rodamco, Europe’s largest property company. The deal could be worth $1.5 billion.
Simon spokesman Les Morris could not be reached for comment this afternoon.
A Wall Street analyst told Reuters the properties would fit well within Unibail’s portfolio and a deal also would put Simon in a better position to make a bid for General Growth. Simon recently hired Lazard Ltd. to provide advice on a possible bid for the nation’s second-largest real estate investment trust, behind Simon.
Simon has about $4 billion in cash and cash equivalents and about $3.5 billion available under a revolving credit line to do a deal.
Shares in Simon were up about 1 percent in Monday afternoon trading, to $70.60 each.
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