Mercury's third reason is the "earnings misses and downward revisions to guidance," which the company began seeing in November 2005, almost a year after going public. The letter goes on to say, "In our view, management has lost credibility with investors as a result of being overly optimistic and not realistic on a number of occasions."

Lastly, Mercury says the company not valued in the public market as much as it would as part of a national mall operating company. "While we believe that the corporation is too small to generate economies of scale with its widely dispersed portfolio, several of the national or regional owner/operators could achieve operating synergies through an acquisition of the corporation."

Feldman has a market value of $153.2 million, according to New York Stock Exchange numbers Monday afternoon. Shares rose by about $0.45, or 4% to $11.68 in Monday trading. Feldman spokespeople did not respond to GlobeSt.com in time for publication.

The move toward better valuation in the private market has been played out in all property types in recent months. Yesterday Trammell Crow Co. shareholders voted in favor of the merger with CB Richard Ellis. Last month, Equity Office Properties Trust agreed to be purchased by Blackstone Group and Lexington Corporate Properties Trust shareholders agreed to the merger with Newkirk Realty Trust Inc.