Simon slams CSC's Trafford deal
Published: 08 December, 2010
Simon Property Group has turned up the pressure on CSC, urging fellow shareholders to vote down its purchase of The Trafford Centre. And it has again said it is prepared to bid for the company
Simon owns 5 per cent of CSC shares, and in an open letter to the CSC board, Simon chief executive David Simon said: “When you first contacted us, just before you announced this proposal, we asked you to pause before proceeding headlong into ceding significant control to Peel without obtaining any premium to CSC’s latest stated net asset value.”
“We have now spent considerable time analyzing the additional information that you have published about the proposed Trafford Centre transaction, and are even more disturbed and disappointed by the profound value destruction proposed to be inflicted on CSC and its shareholders. We believe that CSC is substantially overpaying for the Trafford Centre Group.”
Simon reiterated its request for CSC to open its books to allow Simon to prepare a bid. But it warned: “If the proposed Trafford Centre acquisition is approved, we would need to consider liquidating our position in CSC.”
