CSC confirms Simon approach
Published: 25 November, 2010
Capital Shopping Centres confirms bid approach from Simon Property Group
Capital Shopping Centres, which has launched a share placing to finance its purchase of the Trafford Centre has confirmed that US retail property giant Simon Property Group has indicated it wants to bid for the company.
Simon is a 5.6 per cent. shareholder in CSC and, when informed of the plan to buy the Trafford Centre, it immediately wrote to CSC asking that the deal be put on hold “until it had had the opportunity to present CSC with a potential cash offer for the company at an unspecified premium to NAV.”
In a Stock Exchange announcemant CSC made it clear there was no certainty Simon's bid would materialise. When Simon first bought into CSC's predecessor Liberty International two years ago, Westfield moved rapidly to match its stake. The Australian giant has been freeing up cash with a string of disposals, but there is no indication yet that it will be taking a position in CSC this time round.
