Simon Sweetens Offer For Macerich To $16.8 Bln. In Final Takeover Bid - Update

(RTTNews) - Mall owner Simon Property Group Inc (SPG) on Friday said it has raised its offer to buy Macerich Co (MAC) to $95.50 a share from $91 a share, in its 'best and final' bid for the smaller rival.

Simon's new offer is valued at $16.8 billion, up from $16 billion, and excludes Macerich debt of about $6.4 billion.

Macerich said it would review the offer and urged its shareholders not to take any action.

Macerich shares slid 4 percent in morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

Simon said the $95.50 per share offer is payable 50 percent in cash and 50 percent in Simon stock using a fixed exchange ratio.

Simon said that if Macerich does not negotiate terms and conditions of a merger deal by April 1, the offer and its interest in buying Macerich stands withdrawn.

Simon said the new offer represents a 37 percent premium to Macerich's unaffected closing stock price of $69.88 on November 18, the day before Simon disclosed its 3.6% investment in Macerich.

In March, Simon offered to buy Macerich for $91 per share in cash and stock, but Macerich spurned it, saying the offer undervalued it and did not serve shareholders' interests.

To thwart a takeover, Macerich had approved a poison pill and staggered its board of directors, a move which Simon was critical about.

If a merger happens, Simon will benefit from a stronger presence in Arizona and Southern California, where Macerich has strong focus.

Simon's sweetened bid for Macerich is part of efforts to gain scale of operations, even as the retail space scenario is marked by oversupply.

MAC is trading at $89.77, down $3.73 or 3.99%, on a volume of 6.7 million shares on the NYSE.

SPG is trading at $195.02, up $2.92 or 1.52%, on a volume of 1.1 million shares on the NYSE.