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WSJ(5/7) What's Brewing In The Real-Estate Market
07/05/2008 9:58AM

From THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

[What's Brewing in the Real-Estate Market]


Centro See-Saw

Shopping-center owner Centro Properties Group, which needed to secure its fourth repayment extension on $4.9 billion in debt by Wednesday, had to grant one of its lenders a mulligan to do so.

Centro, which owns roughly 680 shopping centers in the U.S. and 130 in Australia, was on the verge of getting a 7 1/2-month extension when one lender balked two days before the April 30 repayment deadline, people familiar with the matter say. German bank WestLB, which holds less than $200 million of Centro's debt, had just received a $7.8 billion bailout from the European Union and wanted more time to consider the deal.

The banks then granted a seven-day interim extension to resolve the matter. In a deal expected to be announced Wednesday, the banks have agreed to extend the deadline to Dec. 15, according to people familiar with the talks.

The catch: WestLB gets to revisit its decision late this month or early next, once again examining data that Centro will provide it about its operations, these people say. If WestLB elects to bolt from the extension, it could mean that Centro or the other banks will have to pay its claims or that Centro will end up in the Australian equivalent of bankruptcy court. Both Centro and WestLB declined to comment.


-- Kris Hudson, Alex Frangos and Lingling Wei



(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 06, 2008 19:58 ET (23:58 GMT)

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