Simon, CPI merger finalized

Simon DeBartolo Group Inc., the owner and manager of Battlefield Mall, announced Sept. 24 the completion of its merger with Corporate Property Investors, a national owner of regional malls.

The planned merger was announced in February. The completion of the merger with CPI also finalizes the change of Simon's corporate name to Simon Property Group Inc.

"Over the past several years we have increased the size and quality of our portfolio and business ventures, particularly through the merger with CPI," said David Simon, chief executive officer of Simon Property Group, in a release.

"The new name will align with the company's strategic direction of leveraging a national branding initiative to drive shopper loyalty and provide value-added services to our portfolio," he added.

Simon Property Group has its headquarters in Indianapolis. It is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust.

Through its subsidiary partnerships it is engaged primarily in the ownership, development, management, leasing, acquisition and expansion of income-producing properties. This involves mostly regional malls and community shopping centers.

With completion of the merger with Corporate Property Investors, the company now owns or has an interest in 241 properties comprising an aggregate of 165 million square feet of gross leasable area.

Together with its affiliated management company, Simon Property Group owns or manages about 180 million square feet of gross leasable area in retail and mixed-used properties.

Simon has a total market capitalization of about $17 billion with property in 35 states. Simon is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SPG.

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