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General Growth files for bankruptcy protection

By Ilaina Jonas and Emily Chasan Ilaina Jonas And Emily Chasan 2 hrs 55 mins ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) – General Growth Properties Inc, the second largest U.S. mall owner, filed for bankruptcy protection on Thursday in one of the biggest real estate failures in U.S. history.

Ending months of speculation, the Chicago-based mall owner, which listed total assets of $29.56 billion and total debts of $27.29 billion, sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from creditors along with 158 of its more than 200 U.S. malls, while it seeks to restructure some of its debt.

Since November, General Growth has warned that it may have to seek protection from its creditors when it was unable to refinance maturing mortgages.

The company said in a statement that it planned to continue exploring strategic alternatives during the bankruptcy protection, from which it is seeking to emerge as quickly as possible through a reorganization that preserves its national business.

General Growth's filing in the U.S. bankruptcy court in Manhattan makes it one of the largest nonfinancial companies to succumb to the financial crisis in the U.S.

Before the bankruptcy protection filing, the company had defaulted on several mortgages as well as a series of bonds. It has also put several of its flagship properties up for sale.

Analysts and other real estate experts have speculated that mall owners Simon Property Group Inc and Westfield Group would be interested in buying some of General Growth's assets from bankruptcy.

General Growth has been generating enough cash flow for the company to pay monthly interest costs and expenses, but it has been unable to refinance the principal of loans and mortgages as they come due because banks and other financing sources have been reluctant to issue large mortgages and loans.

"Our core business remains sound and is performing well with stable cash ...................http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090416/bs_nm/us_generalgrowth_bankrupcty