Fitch: No Imminent Concern over Mills' Properties

With the possible sale of all or part of Mills Corp., Fitch Ratings, Chicago, looked at the U.S commercial mortgage-backed securities transactions that have exposure to the company.The rating agency said it is making no rating adjustments at this time. Any future rating actions would depend primarily on the operating performance of each property and its affect on the overall credit composition of its respective CMBS transaction. The properties continue to perform well and Fitch is not worried about defaults. However a possible sale, said Lauren Cerda, senior director, Fitch Ratings, brings to light a potential concern about who could buy the company. "While Mills' portfolio does include some traditional malls, they are more widely known as an operator of large hybrid malls which combine outlet, entertainment and traditional stores. Therefore, a potential sale may necessitate that only a more specialized mall owner would be able to come in and purchase at least that portion of Mills' properties, leaving open the possibility that the portfolio could be split up between traditional mall operators and outlets," she said.