By Brandon Brown | Phoenix Business Journal
Macerich Co., the owner and operator of many Phoenix-area malls, rejected an offer to be bought out by the nation’s top mall owner, Simon Property Group Inc.
On March 9, Simon (NYSE: SPG) publicly announced its offer to buy Macerich for $91 per share, a deal valued around $22.4 billion. At that time, Macerich (NYSE: MAC) said it would go over the offer with its board of directors.
A little over a week later, Macerich published a letter from Chairman and CEO Art Coppola to the chairman and CEO of Simon declining the offer.
“As you know, Macerich owns and operates a high quality portfolio of regional shopping centers in prime locations. Our portfolio contains many trophy assets of a kind that rarely become available for sale and cannot be replicated. Most could not be built today and substitutes do not exist,” Coppola wrote. “Our board has complete confidence in our strategic plan and the ability of our experienced management team to successfully execute it.”
