Simon to Proceed With Tender Offer

Simon Property Group Inc., Indianapolis, has announced that it will proceed with its $18 per share cash tender offer for Taubman Centers Inc., Bloomfield, Mich., despite the unanimous rejection of the offer by Taubman's board of directors.In a brief statement issued after the Taubman board's action, Simon said it will proceed with the offer and with its federal lawsuit to challenge what it called Taubman's "continuing efforts to disenfranchise its public shareholders." The suit maintains that Taubman's board is breaching its fiduciary duty by not giving "adequate consideration" to a previous offer by Simon and by accepting the Taubman family's "claimed veto power" over the offer. Simon said Taubman "has opted out of the Michigan Control Share Act to avoid a shareholder referendum" on the tender offer, and that if Taubman shareholders want to take advantage of the offer they must tender into the offer by Jan. 17 and "support our efforts to invalidate the Taubman family's illegally obtained blocking position." The two real estate investment trusts can be found online at http://www.simon.com and http://www.taubman.com.