Replies to post #184497 on Naz News, Gappers and FLE''s

[MWM]

I'd wait for it to go BK...

According to a person familiar with Pershing Square Capital Management's thinking, the fund is betting that General Growth Properties (GGP) will file for bankruptcy bu that equity investors will wind up being big winners. Reference Link :theflyonthewall.com (Big winners? Bet not. js)

Pershing Square betting on General Growth bankruptcy
Tue Dec 30, 2008 9:05pm GMT By Dan Wilchins and Ilaina Jonas

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management, one of General Growth Properties Inc's GGP.N biggest shareholders, is betting the No. 2 U.S. mall owner will file for bankruptcy -- and equity investors will end up big winners, a person familiar with the firm's thinking said.

Pershing Square declined to comment. General Growth, whose top properties include Fashion Show in Las Vegas and Faneuil Hall in Boston, declined to comment.

Bankruptcy usually leaves stock investors with plenty of nothing, but General Growth is an unusual case. It has almost $30 billion of assets on its books, and just about $27 billion of debt.

But most of the company's real estate assets are recorded on its books at their historical value, and many were bought years ago, meaning their value now is likely substantially higher. The company's problems are not with its assets, but with refinancing maturing debt in frozen markets.

Historically, companies whose assets are worth much more than their liabilities have gone through bankruptcy in a way that leaves shareholders intact, which is what Pershing Square is banking on, the person familiar with the firm's thinking said.

It's not the first time Pershing Square, led by activist investor William Ackman, has made a big bet on real estate linked to retail. He recently made headlines with a so-far unrealized plan to boost discount retailer Target Corp's (TGT.N) stock price by forming a trust that owns the land under its stores and then spinning off part of the trust in a stock offering.

General Growth's shares were down 4 cents, or 3.3 percent, at $1.17 in afternoon trading on Tuesday, down 98 percent from their peak in March 2007.

Pershing Square owns or has exposure to more than a quarter of General Growth's shares. Continued...

http://uk.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUKTRE4BT4XK20081230?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0

[Gator44]

Debt-laden mall owner General Growth Properties Inc. has changed bankruptcy counsel, parting with Sidley Austin LLP to hire Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, according to people familiar with the matter.

General Growth, which owns and manages more than 200 U.S. malls, is struggling to restructure or postpone payment on $27 billion in debt as large installments of it come due in the coming months. ...