It seems some of the biggest retail real estate stories these days are coming from overseas. In the latest development in Simon Property Group's courtship of Capital Shopping Centres, U.K. regulators have given Simon a deadline of January 12 to come up with a "firm offer" for the British mall owners. So much for a restful holiday break for the execs at the nation's largest mall REIT.
Meanwhile, things are also getting interesting again in the Centro saga. Centro is fielding bids for more than $13 billion worth of assets. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, interested buyers included Westfield, Lend Lease's Australian Prime Property Fund, CFS Retail Trust, Queensland Investment Corp and the Singapore Government Investment Corp.
Lastly, Charter Hill REIT reached a deal to divest approximately 60 percent of its U.S. portfolio.
Here are some other notable news and notes from around the retail real estate world:
- Toys”R”Us CEO shares keys to staying competitive over holidays, during economic storm (NRF)
- Riding the Unlikely Commercial Real Estate Rebound (Fortune)
- Judge Grants Rejection of 73 A&P Leases (Supermarket News)
- Web, gift cards taking bigger bite from store sales (New York Post)
- How 2010 tech changed retail forever (Fortune)
- New General Growth CEO has a turnaround model to follow (Washington Post)