Two of the world's biggest shopping centre owners are building stakes in Liberty International, parent company of Capital Shopping Centres, and City observers believe Westfield and Simon Property Group could be jockeying for position ahead of a bid for the UK's number one owner of regional malls.
In recent weeks Liberty has noted a series of strategic share purchases that saw Simon, the biggest quoted property company in the US, take its stake in the company from 3 to 4.2 per cent.
And Westfield disclosed that it had bought a 2.96 per cent stake in Liberty for 'investment purposes.' The biggest seller appears to have been South African institution Old Mutual, which sold 10 million shares - or more than 2.7 per cent of the company's share capital.
The corporate activity has reignited Liberty's share price which had been languishing at 850p per share and had risen to 967p as Shopping Centre went to press. But analysts believe any bid for Liberty would have to be pitched closer to the 1200p level the shares reached a year ago, ahead of the downturn affecting property stocks. Writedowns have also forced Liberty to book a loss of £426.2m in the six months to June 2008, compared to £499.5m profit in 2007.
None of the parties would comment on their intentions, but any potential bidder would have to win over Sir Donald Gordon, the company's 78-year-old founder and life president. He still holds 21 per cent of the company.
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