Reuters exclusive on General Growth capital raising plan

Reuters exclusively reported on Feb. 18 that mall owner General Growth Properties, which is facing an unsolicited takeover bid from Simon property, was looking to raise $1 billion to $2 billion from public markets to fund an independent exit from bankruptcy. A source told Reuters that General Growth felt the trigger behind Simon Property`s move to go public with its $10 billion bid for General Growth was the worry that General Growth would succeed in raising the funds it needs to exit from bankruptcy soon. The source said GGP had been in talks with investors for months, including firms like Brookfield, who were interested in financing the company rather than buying it. General Growth expects the public markets to be a cheaper source of funds than private investors like Brookfield. Dow Jones and Bloomberg cited the Reuters report in their stories about developments around the largest U.S. real estate bankruptcy in history.