Australia's debt-laden shopping mall owner Centro Properties has confirmed the sale of its U.S. shopping mall assets to private equity firm Blackstone Group for $9.4 billion and announced a major restructure. The company also said it was in talks with lenders on amalgamating portfolios to create a listed Australia property fund. Blackstone beat rival bidders including Morgan Stanley Real State which had teamed up with Starwood Capital Group and New York-based NRDC, a source familiar with the transaction told Reuters on Monday. (Reporting by Eriko Amaha; editing by Michael Smith)
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