☰

Empresas y finanzas

Blackstone to buy Centro U.S. assets for $9.4 billion: source


    SYDNEY (Reuters) - Private equity firm Blackstone Group will pay about $9.4 billion for the U.S. shopping mall assets of Australia's debt-laden Centro Properties after winning a three-way bidding contest, a source with knowledge of the transaction said on Monday.

    Blackstone beat rival bidders including Morgan Stanley Real State which had teamed up with Starwood Capital Group and New York-based NRDC, the source said.

    Blackstone agreed to pay book value for the assets which Centro has valued at around $9.4 billion, the source said, confirming media reports.

    Shares in Centro were earlier placed in a trading halt ahead of an announcement about a potential transaction. Centro narrowed down bidders for the U.S. shopping mall assets to three consortiums, including Blackstone, sources told Reuters on February 9. with final bids for the 600 U.S. properties due in late February.

    The Australian property giant was also weighing up a number of potential outcomes for a company-wide restructuring. The company's total portfolio is valued at A$16.5 billion, while it has A$16 billion in debt.

    Debt-laden Centro was one of corporate Australia's first casualties of the global credit crisis.

    Any asset sales need the approval of Centro's lenders which are now largely made up of hedge and distressed debt funds.

    UBS and JPMorgan are running the sale process for Centro. Moelis & Co is financial adviser to Centro.

    A Centro spokeswoman declined to comment.

    Officials for Blackstone were not immediately available to comment.

    The source could not be named because they were not authorized to speak to the media about the matter.

    (Reporting by Michael Smith; Editing by Ed Davies)