Simon Property Group Inc, the largest owner of U.S. malls and outlet centers, will spin off its strip malls and smaller shopping centers into a publicly traded REIT to focus solely on its larger retail properties.The company has been focusing on its larger malls, which provide higher returns. This has held back the expansion of its strip malls and smaller shopping centers."Over the years, we have seen a number of very attractive investment opportunities ... that we have not pursued given our primary focus on our global portfolio of larger retail assets," Chief Executive David Simon said on a conference call.The real estate investment trust (REIT) is expected to initially own or have an interest in 54 strip malls as well as in 44 smaller enclosed malls with annual net operating income of up to $10 million each.
Simon Property Group, Inc.( Simon Property), is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT). Shares of SPG traded higher by 2.16% or $3.2/share to $151.57. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $142.47 and as high as $182.45. On average, 1305850 shares of SPG exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 1777194.
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