That didn’t take long. After all the “Will they or won’t they?” speculation surrounding Simon Property Group’s bid for General Growth Properties that’s been circulating around the last couple of days, the REIT has made its intentions clear.
Simon now wants to supplant Brookfield’s place in GGP’s recapitalization. It claims its offer is superior to Brookfield’s for several reasons including that it would not seek any warrants. It would also agree to limits on its governance rights. It says it would welcome working with Fairholme and Pershing Square if those investors too would forego any claims on warrants.
The other nugget here is that Paulson & Co. has officially entered the fray as it is willing to provide a $1 billion co-investment as part of Simon’s offer.
However, at the end of the letter, Simon does add that, “If you are interested, we remain prepared to discuss with you instead an acquisition of GGP in a fully-financed transaction.”