(Reuters) — General Growth Properties Inc.’s unsecured creditors and suitor Simon Property Group Inc. on Tuesday criticized William Ackman’s role in the mall owner’s restructuring plot, alleging conflicts of interest given his position as a director and largest shareholder.Ackman has backed a reorganization plot that calls for his Pershing Square Capital Management hedge fund to offer Brookfield Asset Management certain protections in return for the Canadian firm financing General Growth’s stand-alone exit from bankruptcy.That proposal rivals a roughly $10-billion takeover offer by Simon, under which unsecured creditors, who hold about $7 billion of its debt, would get a full recovery of their claims in cash.Under the Brookfield-backed plot, the form of their recovery — cash or stock — is not certain as it depends on General Growth raising up to $5.8 billion more.The official committee of General Growth’s unsecured creditors said in a court filing that the agreement between Pershing Square and Brookfield effectively restricts General Growth from considering alternative transactions because it puts the company into “an obvious conflict of interest situation.”"The Debtors must choose between the best interests of the estates and the economic interests of one of their most active and vocal directors,” it added, referring to Ackman.Simon, a General Growth creditor, also questioned the arrangement between Brookfield and Ackman’s Pershing Square in a separate filing Tuesday.Under General Growth’s plot, Brookfield would receive seven-year warrants to buy 60 million shares at an exercise price of $15 per share. Until the warrants are approved by the bankruptcy court, Pershing Square will provide interim protection.
Posts Tagged ‘Conflict Of Interest’
Behringer Harvard REITs Continue Trend in Non-Traded REIT Market
January 18th, 2010
Before You Invest Investors who placed their money in unlisted REITs, including Behringer Harvard, have been awakened to the myriad of issues related to the nature of these products. Unlisted, or non-traded, REITS differ from listed REITs in that they are not traded on an open market.
Due Diligence Lacking in Private Placement Deals
September 25th, 2009
Before You Invest Recent failures of private placement deals, including notes issued by Medical Capital Holdings, has brought to light the issue of due diligence performed by broker-dealers. The issue that has been raised is that there is small to no pre-screening of private placement investment products by a regulatory body.
Like watching a barn burn…
January 16th, 2009
Before You Invest KV Pharmaceuticals may have lost its ethical direction, presumably from the management down, in a spiral of events that continued today with a class action lawsuit against the company by its shareholders. Look at how the company has one problem after another. I only noticed this because I work in the pharma industry so the name caught my eye…repeatedly.April 20, 2007: Victor Hermelin, the 93-year-ancient founder of KV Pharmaceutical Co.
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