GGP Inc. (an initialism of General Growth Properties) was an American commercial real estate company and the second-largest shopping mall operator in the United States. It was founded by brothers Martin, Matthew and Maurice Bucksbaum in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 1954, and was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, from 2000. It was subject to the largest real estate bankruptcy in American history at the time of its filing in 2009.[1]
 Final logo, used from 2011–2018 | |
| Formerly |
|
|---|---|
| Company type | Public |
| NYSE: GGP | |
| Industry | Commercial real estate |
| Genre | Shopping malls |
| Founded | 1954 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa |
| Founders |
|
| Defunct | August 28, 2018 |
| Fate | Acquired by Brookfield Property Partners |
| Headquarters | , US |
Area served | United States |
Key people |
|
| Revenue |  $2.346 billion (2016) |
| $1.272 billion (2016) | |
| Total assets |  $22.732 billion (2016) |
| Total equity | $8.635 billion (2016) |
Number of employees | 1,800 (2016) |
| Website | ggp |
GGP was acquired by Brookfield Property Partners, and management of its portfolio was transferred to Brookfield Properties, in 2018. Its portfolio included 125 properties comprising approximately 121,000,000 square feet (11,200,000 m2) in 40 U.S. states at the time of its acquisition, ranking behind only Simon Property Group in total square footage.[2]
History
edit20th century
editGeneral Growth was founded in Iowa by three brothers, Martin, Matthew and Maurice Bucksbaum,[3] in 1954 as General Management.[4] That year, they borrowed $1.2 million to develop their first shopping center, Town & Country Shopping Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in order to open a fourth location for the grocery store founded by their father.[5]
By 1964, the company owned five malls and moved its headquarters to Des Moines, Iowa.[4] In 1970, General Management became General Growth Properties (GGP) and became a public company via an initial public offering.[4] In 1984, the company sold its holdings to Equitable Real Estate Investment Management for $800 million in the largest-ever single-asset real estate transaction to date, but retained the property management of the assets.[6] In 1989, the company acquired Center Companies, creating the fourth-largest shopping center management company in the United States.[7][8]
In 1993, the company once again became a public company via an initial public offering, raising $400 million.[8] In 1994, the company purchased a 40% interest in Centermark Properties from Prudential Financial.[9][10] In 1995, the company sold 25% of its 40% stake, yielding a profit of over $100 million. In 1995, the company also purchased the Homart Development Company from Sears for $1.85 billion.[11] In 1995, co-founder and CEO Martin Bucksbaum died and the company moved its headquarters from Des Moines to Chicago.[5][12] In 1999, John Bucksbaum succeeded his father as CEO.[13]
21st century
edit
In 2000, the company moved its headquarters from Des Moines to Chicago.[4] The company occupied a historic building on North Wacker Drive designed by architectural firm Graham, Anderson, Probst & White, that was later demolished.[14] In 2004, the company acquired The Rouse Company, which owned 37 regional shopping malls and Howard Hughes Corporation, a land development company, for $7.2 billion in cash.[15][16] By 2008, the company had taken on $25 billion in debt and the company was facing required debt payments. John Bucksbaum was ousted as CEO, though he remained chairman of the board, and Adam Metz was named CEO.[13] In December 2008, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman disclosed a 25% ownership stake in the company.[17]
In 2009, the company missed a deadline to repay $900 million in loans backed by two Las Vegas properties, putting the company in danger of filing for bankruptcy protection. At that point, the stock price was down 98% in 12 months.[18] The Bucksbaum family's stake in the firm, which was worth $2.5 billion in 2005,[12] had declined in value by a similar amount.[13] On April 16, 2009, the company filed one of the largest real estate bankruptcies ever and received $375 million in debtor-in-possession financing from Pershing Square Capital Management, the hedge fund managed by Bill Ackman.[19] In February 2010, Brookfield Asset Management made a $2.625 billion equity investment in the company.[20][21] In November 2010, the company exited bankruptcy protection. Creditors were paid in full and equity holders made a "substantial" recovery of their investment, both of which are unusual in bankruptcy filings.[22] In conjunction with the reorganization, the company spun off Howard Hughes Corporation to its shareholders.[23]
In December 2010, CEO Adam Metz and President and COO Thomas Nolan left the company and Sandeep Mathrani, formerly the head of the retail division of Vornado Realty Trust, was named CEO.[24] In 2011, the company sold Faneuil Hall for $140 million.[25] In January 2012, the company completed the spin off of Rouse Properties to its shareholders.[23] In 2013, co-founder Matthew Bucksbaum died.[4] In February 2014, Bill Ackman sold his remaining shares in the company back to the company for $556 million.[26] In April 2015, the company acquired the Crown Building for $1.78 billion.[27] In January 2017, the company changed its name to GGP Inc.[28]
2018 acquisition by Brookfield Property Partners
editOn August 28, 2018, GGP was acquired by Brookfield Property Partners and management of its former portfolio was transferred to its Brookfield Properties subsidiary for $9 billion in cash. The transaction reunited the malls spun off in the Rouse Properties spinoff with the GGP malls.[29] Upon closing the acquisition, Brookfield immediately sold a 49% interest in each of three former GGP super-regional malls to CBRE Group, and a 49% interest in three other former GGP malls to TIAA subsidiary Nuveen, seeking additional joint ventures for its newly-acquired malls.[30]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Jonas, Iliana; Chasan, Emily (April 16, 2009). "General Growth files largest U.S. real estate bankruptcy". Reuters. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
- ^ "2018 Top Retail Owners". National Real Estate Investor. June 5, 2018. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
- ^ Strom, Stephanie (July 10, 1995). "Martin Bucksbaum, 74, Pioneer In Shopping Center Development". The New York Times.
- ^ a b c d e Goldsborough, Bob (November 29, 2013). "Matthew Bucksbaum, 1926-2013". Chicago Tribune.
- ^ a b Strom, Stephanie (July 10, 1995). "Obituaries: Martin Bucksbaum, 74, Pioneer In Shopping Center Development". The New York Times.
- ^ "Matthew Bucksbaum, 87, pioneer and philanthropist". International Council of Shopping Centers. November 26, 2013. Archived from the original on August 8, 2017. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
- ^ "Shopping Center Groups Combine". The New York Times. Associated Press. September 30, 1989.
- ^ a b Johnson, Ben (January 1, 1996). "General Growth lives up to its name and then some". National Real Estate Investor.
- ^ MILLS, JOSHUA (November 4, 1993). "Prudential Will Sell Centermark". The New York Times.
- ^ "Investors to buy Prudential's shopping malls for $1 billion". United Press International. November 3, 1993.
- ^ "Sears Completes Sale of Its Homart Unit". The New York Times. Reuters. December 27, 1995.
- ^ a b Murphy, H. Lee (October 15, 2005). "Bucksbaum". Crain Communications.
- ^ a b c "General Growth founder's son steps aside as CEO". Reuters. October 27, 2008.
- ^ "General Growth Building, Chicago". Chicago Architecture Info. Archived from the original on April 21, 2009. Retrieved December 3, 2008.
- ^ "General Growth Properties, Inc. Completes Merger of the Rouse Company" (Press release). Business Wire. November 12, 2004.
- ^ PRISTIN, TERRY (August 21, 2004). "Reshaping a Reshaper of Landscapes; Rouse Company to Be Acquired By Owner of Shopping Centers". The New York Times.
- ^ "Ackman Raises Stake in General Growth". The New York Times. December 10, 2008.
- ^ "General Growth misses payments". Bloomberg News. Baltimore Sun. February 13, 2009.
- ^ DE LA MERCED, MICHAEL J. (April 16, 2009). "General Growth Properties Files for Bankruptcy". The New York Times.
- ^ "General Growth Properties Announces $2.625 Billion Proposed Equity Commitment from Brookfield Asset Management" (Press release). Business Wire. February 24, 2010.
- ^ Graham, Scott (February 24, 2010). "General Growth nabs $2.6B from Brookfield Asset to emerge from bankruptcy". American City Business Journals.
- ^ Hals, Tom; Stempel, Jonathan (November 9, 2010). "U.S. mall operator General Growth exits bankruptcy". Reuters.
- ^ a b "General Growth Properties Completes Spinoff of The Howard Hughes Corporation" (Press release). Business Wire. November 9, 2010.
- ^ Jonas, Ilaina (December 17, 2010). "General Growth CEO, president leave Dec. 22-sources". Reuters.
- ^ "GGP Sells Faneuil Hall Marketplace for $140 Million" (Press release). PRNewswire. October 14, 2011. Archived from the original on June 6, 2013. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- ^ "General Growth returns not enough for Ackman's requirements". Bloomberg L.P. Crain Communications. February 13, 2014.
- ^ McIntyre, Andrew (April 21, 2015). "General Growth Pays $1.8B For New York's Crown Building". Law360.
- ^ "General Growth Properties Announces Corporate Name Change to GGP" (Press release). Business Wire. January 17, 2017.
- ^ "Brookfield Property Partners L.P. Completes Acquisition of GGP Inc" (Press release). GlobeNewswire. August 28, 2018.
- ^ Campbell, Kyle (August 29, 2018). "Brookfield sells shares in three more mall properties". Real Estate Weekly. Retrieved September 1, 2018.