Blackstone Bidding On Centro Properties Group (BX)

According to the Wall Street Journal, Blackstone BX is bidding on Centro Properties Group. Blackstone made a preliminary offer which is known as an "indicative bid" by the Dec. 17 deadline set by the Australian shopping-center owner Centro. The size of the bid is not known as of yet, but Blackstone is mostly interested in Centro's 600 U.S. properties, said sources close to the situation. Centro's U.S. portfolio is mostly made up of strip malls and other non-descript neighborhood shopping centers around the country. It valued its U.S. holdings at $9.5 billion at the end of its fiscal year. In addition to its large U.S. holdings, Centro owns 112 malls in Australia and New Zealand. In addition to the Blackstone bid, there is another bid for all of Centro from NRDC Equity Partners LLC and Australian investor Lend Lease Corp. This bid, according to people close to the situation, say the deal is worth more than $16 billion. There are also other deals out there for Centro, which means that 2011 could potentially see a bidding war for all or some of Centro's properties. Shopping-center mogul Chaim Katzman's Gazit Globe Ltd. has a competing bid for Centro's U.S. and Australian properties. Gazit teamed up with Colonial First State Global Asset Management to offer $7.3 billion for Centro's Australian and New Zealand properties. Gazit's U.S. affiliate, Equity One Inc., teamed up with Apollo Global Management LLC to make a joint bid for Centro's U.S. portfolio. Centro is being advised by UBS AG, Moelis & Co. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. on the matters.