(Ian Ritter is national online editor for GlobeSt.com/RETAIL.)

CHEVY CHASE, MD-Gazit-Globe, an Israeli real estate firm that has acquired a 9% stake in the Mills Corp., filed a complaint against the locally based REIT in a Delaware court, urging it to hold its annual meeting in a timely manner. Gazit purchased its interests in Mills last month, and executives say they are willing to spend $1.2 billion to recapitalize the firm.

In a letter to Mark Ordan, Mills' chief executive officer, Gazit chairman Chaim Katzman claims that Mills' board has avoided Gazit's proposal to revamp the company. "We believe your purpose is not to bring us into the strategic process, but rather to baffle, frustrate and ultimately deter Gazit's efforts to give its recapitalization proposal the hearing it deserves," the letter says.

It claims that Mills' board needs to take the matter of recapitalization before shareholders, stressing that the company has delayed its annual meeting "because it has been unable to get its fiscal house in order." Mills was scheduled to file its 10-K with the SEC on Nov. 1 but has delayed that process for three to four weeks. The company also has yet to prior past financial reports with the commission.