David Simon to FTC…..”Step Off” …. $$

• ToddSullivan
• March 2nd, 2010

Am I the only one who thinks every time David Simon opens his mouth, he does himself a disservice?

From the WSJ:

Simon Property Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer David Simon said that, if his unsolicited bid for bankrupt rival General Growth Properties Inc. succeeds, antitrust concerns won’t derail the combination, which would result in Simon owning half of the most-productive shopping malls in the U.S.

“No way. Not even close,” Mr. Simon, also Simon’s chairman, said Tuesday at Citigroup Inc.’s annual CEO conference in Palm Beach, Fla. “Retail real estate is so diverse. There are so many options for retailers.

“We’re competing with the Internet,” he said. “You have Wal-Mart [Stores Inc.], big-box retailers, department stores. I just don’t see it being a big issue. But there’s an education process I think the industry is going to have to go through.”

Simon, which owns 321 U.S. malls, on Feb. 16 unveiled a $10 billion offer to buy General Growth and its more than 200 U.S. malls. The offer calls for Simon to pay General Growth’s $7 billion in unsecured debt in cash. Simon also would pay $6 per share to General Growth’s shareholders and spin off General Growth’s residential-development division, which Simon values at $3 per share, to General Growth’s shareholders.

Maybe he will want to ask people at Whole Foods (WFMI) who had their deal with Wild Oats virtually torn apart by the FTC despite the resulting share being a pittance of what SPG will have if it gets GGP. Speaking just for Massachusetts, a SPG/GGP tie-up will create a monopoly of major malls here from Worcester to Boston north and south.

Is he really comparing Wal-Mart (WMT) to Boston’s Faneuil Hall ?????? Really????

Regulators are not the people you want to tell how to do their job or predetermine their outcome……just does not sit well.

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