General Growth Properties' extension hearing is March 3; court approves securities settlement

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., Feb. 16 - General Growth Properties, Inc.'s request to extend its exclusivity period and to retain UBS Investment Bank will be heard on March 3, according to an attorney familiar with the cases.

The company asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York to extend its exclusive plan-filing period to Aug. 26 from Feb. 6 and the solicitation period to Oct. 26 from April 23.

General Growth said it hired UBS to assist in evaluating potential financial transactions for emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and raising exit capital.

Also on March 3, the court will hold a hearing on Miller Buckfire & Co., LLC's amended retention application, the attorney said. Miller Buckfire was hired by General Growth as its financial adviser and investment banker at the outset of its bankruptcy process.

On Tuesday, the court approved a stipulation under which the General Growth debtors' primary and excess directors and officers liability insurers would fund a $15.5 million securities class action lawsuit payment without risking violation of the automatic stay imposed by the companies' bankruptcy filing, said another attorney close to the case.

As previously reported, several individuals who purchased General Growth common stock between April 2008 and October 2008 filed four securities lawsuits against the company and some of its current and former directors and officers, alleging various violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

General Growth, a Chicago-based real estate investment trust that owns regional shopping malls, master planned community developments and commercial office buildings, filed for bankruptcy on April 16, 2009. Its Chapter 11 case number is 09-11977.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.