Four Centro shopping centres up for sale 7:07 AM, 26 Jun 2008
Ailing shopping centre operator, Centro Properties Group, has kicked off its bid to repay its $4,2 billion debt by putting four shopping centres across the country up for sale, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.
The portfolio, worth $1.15 billion, comprises of a 50 per cent unencumbered interest in Centro Galleria and Centro Halls Head in Western Australia and Centro Colonnades in South Australia, with a 100 per cent freehold interest in Centro Bankstown in Sydney.
However, any possible sale will be dependant on the stipulation that Centro remains the manager of the properties, the paper said.
According to documents, obtained by the paper, a deadline of July 10 has been set for the first-round bids , while the data room for serious bidders will be open from July 16 until August 14.
"Following the transaction, it is proposed that the day-to-day property management, leasing and development services will continue to be provided by wholly owned subsidiaries of Centro to the portfolio," the document said,
Centro Properties, which has more than $8.5 billion of syndicated funds under management, ran into trouble in December after it announced it was struggling with the debt on its 800-strong property portfolio spanning Australia, New Zealand and the US.
Earlier this week, the company also said that it will not be paying a distribution to ordinary securityholders for the six months ended June 30, 2008, partly because it has incurred what it terms significant refinancing and adviser fees.
Centro shares ended trading at 23 cents, up 0.5 cents, 2.17 per cent.
Ends.
Cheers, Pie :)
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