...but wait...there's more, lol!!! Conflicting article from...

...but wait...there's more, lol!!! Conflicting article from Bloomberg:-
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Source: www.bloomberg.com

Centro Hasn't Reached Debt Deadline Deal With Bankers (Update2)
By Laura Cochrane

Feb. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Centro Properties Group, the owner of 700 U.S. malls that put itself up for sale, hasn't reached an agreement with bankers to extend the deadline for refinancing A$3.9 billion ($3.5 billion) of debt.

``No terms have been agreed,'' Jim Kelly, spokesman for Centro, said today in a telephone interview. He said the Melbourne-based company will make an announcement about the refinancing before the deadline late on Feb. 15.

Centro lost 89 percent of its value after saying it was struggling to refinance debt amid the global credit squeeze. Centro has been in talks for at least two months with its lenders: Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., National Australia Bank Ltd., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and BNP Paribas.

``Giving Centro more time on its deadline doesn't get it out of the woods by any means, it simply defers the potential problem,'' said Justin Blaess, who manages about A$2 billion in property stocks at ING Investment Management in Sydney.

``Our biggest problem with this company is the excessive leverage it has at a time when the global debt markets are shut and real estate values, particularly in the U.S., are under pressure,'' he said.

Centro has been trying to sell stakes in two of its unlisted funds in Australia and North America to pay down debt. It borrowed to buy $9 billion of malls over two years, transforming the owner of Australian regional retail centers into an international mall operator.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported today that Centro secured an extra two months on its refinancing deadline to mid- April, without saying where it got the information.

Centro rose 1.5 cents, or 2.4 percent, to 63 cents at 11:37 a.m. on the Australian Stock Exchange in Sydney.

To contact the reporter on this story: Laura Cochrane in Melbourne at [email protected] .

Last Updated: February 12, 2008 19:43 EST


Ends.

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