Simon Property Completes $3.4B Taubman Purchase

Taubman Centers-owned Beverly Center in Los Angeles. Image courtesy of Jeremy Samuelson

Simon Property Group Inc. has completed its $3.4 billion acquisition of Taubman Centers Inc., closing the chapter on a blockbuster deal that the rival mall owners struck in mid-November. Through the transaction, Simon’s operating partnership Simon Property Group LP will purchase all the common stock of Taubman Centers Inc. for $43 per share in cash.

Simon will pick up an 80 percent ownership interest in The Taubman Realty Group LP, while the Taubman family will sell about one-third of its ownership interest and remain a 20 percent partner. A prospective merger between the retail firms was first announced in February with a price tag of $3.6 billion, but Simon scrapped the deal in June.

In a statement, Simon CEO & President David Simon said the investment will add premier retail assets to the company’s portfolio and will enhance the Taubman joint venture’s ability to create innovative retail environments and jobs. Indianapolis-based Simon is the largest mall owner in the U.S., with a portfolio of 204 retail properties across the country as of year-end 2019, along with ownership interests in 29 outlet properties in Canada, Europe and Asia.

The company teamed up with mall owner Brookfield Property Partners to acquire bankrupt department store chain JCPenney in an $800 million deal announced in September. Taubman, which is headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., owns, manages or leases 26 retail properties throughout the U.S. and Asia.