Simon’s time is running out on Capital bid
CITY banks including Citigroup, Lazard and Evercore could miss out on up to £60m in fees if Simon Property fails to make a bid for Capital Shopping Centres before the Takeover Panel’s deadline on Wednesday.
It is understood that Simon’s board had not made a final decision on whether to bid £3bn as planned, raise its offer or walk away yesterday, though the US property giant has maintained it will not make a firm offer until it has looked at Capital’s financial information.
If Simon fails to make a firm takeover bid, it will be forced by the Takeover Code to walk away for at least six months.
UK-listed Capital altered its £1.6bn deal with Peel Holdings to buy the Trafford Centre on Friday, but refused to cancel the deal or open its books as Simon requested.
Capital now plans to issue shares to Peel at 400p per share instead of 368p as part of the purchase, meaning Peel will take up to a 23.2 per cent stake in the enlarged firm rather than 24.7 per cent. Capital has also inserted break clauses to compensate Peel if Simon does pounce and scupper the deal.