US mall owners CBL Properties, PREIT file for bankruptcy

05 Nov '20

1 min read

Pic: PREIT

Two US mall owners, CBL Properties (CBLPRD) and PREIT (PEI), filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings recently, indicating the continued impact of the pandemic on the retail industry. Both companies own a combined 130 or so malls across the United States. Operations of both will continue while the companies go through the restructuring process.

The companies had earlier announced their perilous positions as some of their largest tenants filed for bankruptcy this year.

Tennessee-based CBL said in its bankruptcy filing that it has assets and estimated liabilities between $1 billion to $10 billion. Uncollected rents from retailers, declining customer traffic and mounting debt of about $1 billion were the factors in its decision to file for bankruptcy. It owns around 100 malls, predominately in the US southeast and mid-west.

Pennsylvania-based PREIT’s prepackaged financial plan ensures $150 million in funding to ‘recapitalize the business and extend the company's debt maturity schedule’, it said in a statement. The plan has ‘overwhelming support’ from its lenders and it is looking to quickly emerge from the process.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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