As Mall Owner Exits Bankruptcy, No One Knows What It’s Worth
When Washington Prime Group went bust in June, the mall operator’s bankruptcy judge was almost certain the case would culminate in a spreadsheet-ridden valuation brawl, Bloomberg News reported. It was a surprise, then, when U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Marvin Isgur signed off on the real estate investment trust’s chapter 11 exit plan on Friday without any creditors sniping over future cash flows, piecemeal asset sales or competing deals. His approval means investment firm SVPGlobal will swap its debt holdings for ownership of the company, and stock holders will even see a recovery, despite no one knowing quite what Washington Prime is worth. Columbus, Ohio-based Washington Prime has a portfolio of some 100 shopping centers across the U.S., sporting a mix of fully-enclosed malls and open-air centers. The varied bag of brick-and-mortar retail assets mixed with the uncertainty of a global pandemic created a difficult, if not impossible, task for valuation experts.
