US shopping centre giant Simon Property Group has again urged Capital Shopping Centres to drop its proposed £1.6bn acquisition of the Trafford Centre in
The group, which is considering a bid for CSC, said the acquisition of the centre from Peel Group would be profoundly value destructive. It added that it may sell its 5% stake in protest.
The Trafford Centre deal would see Peel Group – controlled by
In an open letter to CSC’s board on Wednesday, Simon Property said it was “disturbed and disappointed” by the value destruction the deal could inflict on CSC and its shareholders.
“We firmly oppose the proposed transaction and, as the owner of more than 5% of Capital Shopping Centres Group PLC’s share capital, will vote against it at the forthcoming EGM,” said chief executive David Simon.
“We strongly encourage all other CSC shareholders to do the same.”
Simon was in part responding to an article in the Wall Street Journal Online which stated that Simon “is likely to abandon [its] pursuit” of CSC.
Simon said it in fact “remained willing to consider making acquisition proposals that would afford CSC and its shareholders with a superior alternative to the Trafford Centre acquisition and has urged the CSC Board to allow it the opportunity to review very limited and specific due diligence information with respect to CSC which would assist in that regard”.
paul.norman@estatesgazette.com
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