The company is currently exploring a sale and is under investigation by the SEC for accounting flaws. Mills is restating its financials from 2000 through last year after its third-quarter NOI and FFO dropped due to the failure to collect rents, charges on projects under construction and other factors. For previous coverage, click here.
Meanwhile, JP Morgan provided the company with a $625-million mortgage on Sawgrass Mills, a center in Sunrise, FL, to replace a $268-million mortgage and $74 million in mezzanine financing. Executives expect to generate about $246 million in proceeds from the deal.
Mills' management also plans to refinance its Madrid (Spain) Xanadu and Vaughan (Ontario) Mills centers. The refinancing and access to its credit line will allow it to pursue its current developments, says Laurence Siegel, the company's chairman and chief executive officer. Among the major projects it has in the pipeline are Meadowlands Xanadu in East Rutherford, NJ and 108 N. State St. in Chicago.
"This financial flexibility should also strengthen the company's position with respect to its previously announced exploration of strategic alternatives," says Siegel, in a statement. So far, Vornado Realty Trust, other publicly traded REITs and private-equity firms have been named as potential buyers of some or all of Mills' assets.
Mills is also paying a dividend of just over 25 cents per share on its common stock for the period from Feb. 2 to May 1. The company owns 42 centers in North America and Europe.
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