General Growth Properties Inc. (GGP)

[justthefactsmam]

reuters reports ggp's bod to meet this afternoon.

may postpone tomorrow's hearing:

General Growth board to meet. talks ongoing-source
Thu May 6, 2010 11:01am EDTStocks
General Growth Properties, Inc.
GGP.N
$16.19
-0.38-2.29%
8:58am EST
Simon Property Group, Inc.
SPG.N
$86.58
-1.90-2.15%
8:50am EST
Brookfield Asset Management Inc.
BAMa.TO
$25.28
+0.12+0.48%
8:46am EST
NEW YORK, May 6 (Reuters) - General Growth Properties Inc's (GGP.N) board is expected to meet later Thursday to weigh whether to postpone a key hearing as it talks with suitors vying for a deal, a source familiar with the situation said.

The board will weigh whether to postpone a key hearing scheduled for Friday in light of the offers, the source said, adding that nothing had been decided.

General Growth is in talks with both Simon Property Group Inc (SPG.N) and Brookfield Asset Management Inc (BAMa.TO), which are leading competing bids for the second-largest U.S. mall owner, the source said.

General Growth has asked Simon to come up with a better price for a deal, the source said. General Growth may also come back to Simon with a new counterproposal on antitrust issues, the source added.

The two sides have also been working on putting together merger documents so that they are ready to go should they reach a deal, the source said.

Simon has offered to pay $18.25 per share, or $5.8 billion, for General Growth. It would also also pay holders of $7 billion in General Growth unsecured debt in cash and assume about $18 billion in mortgages and other property-level debt.

The source declined to be named as these discussions are not public. (Reporting by Paritosh Bansal and Ilaina Jonas, editing by Gerald E. McCormick) (For more M&A news and our DealZone blog, go to www.reuters.com/deals)