Taubman Rejects Simon Offer

Taubman Centers has decisively rejected Simon Property Group's revised offer to acquire the Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based retail real estate investment trust at $20 per share.Taubman sees the Simon offer as "inadequate, opportunistic, and clearly not in the best interests of Taubman Centers shareholders," and has advised its shareholders not to tender their shares to Simon. (The Simon offer holds good through Feb. 14.) According to Taubman, the offer does not adequately reflect the value of the company's assets or its growth prospects. Taubman cited several factors contributing to its decision, including: expectations that its assets will generate increased returns over the next few years; the company's outperformance of its peers in recent years; and the fact that the Taubman family and other shareholders who represent over one-third of the voting power of the company have indicated that they are not interested in selling. The Indianapolis-based Simon, the largest retail real estate investment trust by market capitalization, had also obtained the support of Westfield America Trust for its latest bid. Taubman in turn has enlisted the help of Sheldon M. Gordon of Gordon Group Holdings.