Simon Property can't close on Prime

Simon Property Group Inc will not be able to close on its acquisition of Prime Outlets Acquisition Co this month, as U.S. regulators have not yet given the green light, the U.S. mall and outlet center owner's chief executive told Reuters on Thursday.

David Simon said his company was cooperating with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which is reviewing Simon's pending acquisition of privately held Prime for antitrust issues.

Simon has been allowed to close on the purchase of one of Prime's 22 outlet centers, the one in Puerto Rico, Simon said at the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trust Investor Forum in Chicago. The closing on the Puerto Rico center was completed last month, he said.

When Simon announced in December it would pay $700 million and assume Prime's debt, it said it expected the $2.33 billion acquisition to close at the end of the first quarter or in the second quarter, which ends on June 30.

At the time, the company said the acquisition would give Simon 63 U.S. high-end outlet centers and would immediately boost earnings. The deal would give Simon new centers that ring major metropolitan markets such as Washington, D.C.; Baltimore; San Antonio; and Orlando, Florida.

SOURCE: Reuters