Simon Property Group Inc. is terminating its $3.6 billion bid to buy Taubman Centers Inc., arguing that its rival mall owner has breached the merger agreement by not taking steps to mitigate the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, Bloomberg News reported. Simon said yesterday that it has “exercised its contractual rights” to terminate the deal, which was announced in February before the pandemic battered malls. The company said that it was asking a court to declare that Taubman has suffered a “material adverse event” and “breached the covenants in the merger agreement.” Taubman’s shares have been trading below the proposed deal price of $52.50 for months, raising speculation that the deal was in trouble or that Simon would seek to lower its bid.
