Mall Owners' J.C. Penney Rescue Is Back on Track
A month ago, top U.S. mall owners Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG) and Brookfield Property Partners (NASDAQ: BPY) were closing in on a deal to buy J.C. Penney (OTC: JCPN.Q) out of bankruptcy. Negotiations hit a snag in late August, though. That led the department-store chain to propose selling itself to its creditors in a last-ditch effort to avoid liquidation.
Fortunately, cooler heads have prevailed. On Wednesday, bankruptcy attorney Joshua Sussberg announced in court that J.C. Penney had resuscitated its deal with Simon and Brookfield, and the parties had signed a letter of intent to sell the retailer to its top landlords. Let's take a look at what that means.
Sussberg announced that Simon Property Group and Brookfield Property Partners have agreed to an enterprise value of $1.75 billion for buying J.C. Penney's operations. That would be $100 million higher than their initial bid and in line with the highest offer from the first round of bidding in July.
Source Fool.com
