Deals
Mall Owner Simon Property Nixes Deal to Buy Rival Taubman
- Merger was announced in February prior to U.S. pandemic
- Brick-and-mortar retail has been battered by virus outbreak
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Simon Property Group Inc. is terminating its $3.6 billion bid to buy Taubman Centers Inc., arguing that its rival mall owner has breached the merger agreement by not taking steps to mitigate the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
Simon said in a statement on Wednesday it has “exercised its contractual rights” to terminate the deal, which was announced in February before the pandemic battered malls. The company said it was asking a court to declare that Taubman has suffered a “material adverse event” and “breached the covenants in the merger agreement.”