six parties to rescue centro, page-12

"Foreigners including private equity group Blackstone, The Citadel Investment Group and Lighthouse Partners are believed to have submitted proposals to recapitalise the embattled Centro Properties Group by last week’s deadline.

Macquarie Group is tipped to be the only local player among six parties believed to have expressed interest to Centro advisers Lazard Carnegie Wylie about bailing out the troubled retail property giant. Macquarie has steadfastly refused to comment.

Some have suggested that taking over Centro’s business could be difficult even for global players in the present credit-challenged environment. None was availiable for comment at the weekend.

Centro, advised by Jones Lang LaSalle, is also looking to sell half interests in two wholesale funds, Centro Australia Wholesale Fund and Centro America Fund. However, that process is understood to be a lower priority than the recapitalisation, with some potential conerstone investors insisting the sale not go ahead.

Bids on the CAWF stake, with a book value of $2.3 billion which is likely to be discounted, were also due last Thursday.

Any deal would need the approval of the group’s syndicate of lenders, which include a number of Australian and American banks. Several are believed to be meeting in San Francisco this week. Centro chief executive Glenn Rufrano is believed to be participating by teleconference.

The market appears not to share Centro’s confidence in the prospect of a bail-out. Last week the stock hit a record low of 23c, before recovering slightly to 27.5c at the close of trade on Thursday."