US mall operator closes in on CSC

Simon Property moved a step closer to launching a full-scale takeover bid for Capital Shopping Centres (CSC), the owner of 14 UK shopping centres, by agreeing a £3bn loan from a consortium of banks yesterday.

The US shopping mall owner said its board had given it the green light to make a 425p a share offer for CSC. The UK's Takeover Panel has given Simon Property a deadline of 12 January to make an offer or walk away.

Simon Property claims that CSC's proposed £1.6bn bid for The Trafford Centre in Manchester is overpriced. CSC would fund the deal by handing up to 20 per cent of its shares to Peel Holdings, which owns The Trafford Centre and is controlled by the billionaire John Whittaker.