PART OF STORY ONLY WSJ(12/29) Blackstone Joins Bidding For...

PART OF STORY ONLY


WSJ(12/29) Blackstone Joins Bidding For Australian Firm
29/12/2010 11:46AM
(From THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
By Kris Hudson
Blackstone Group LP has jumped into the bidding war for Australian shopping-center owner Centro Properties Group, intensifying what is likely to be one of the largest property takeover battles of 2011.

Blackstone, among the world's largest buyout firms, with $100 billion under management, made a preliminary offer known as an "indicative bid" by the Dec. 17 deadline set by Centro, according to people familiar with the matter.

The size of Blackstone's bid couldn't be determined Tuesday. The buyout giant primarily is interested in Centro's 600 U.S. properties, these people say.

The properties, located throughout the country, consist of strip malls and other nondescript neighborhood shopping centers anchored by grocers or discount retailers, like Kroger TJ Maxx and Marshalls. Centro valued its U.S. portfolio at $9.5 billion at the end of its fiscal year on June 30.

Centro also owns 112 malls in Australia and New Zealand.

Values for U.S. strip centers have rebounded from the lows of the recession but have yet to fully recover. Green Street Advisors Inc. estimates that the average U.S. strip center suffered a 40% decline in value from the middle of 2007 to the middle of 2009. Since then, it has recovered roughly half of the lost value, according to Green Street.