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Bankruptcy Keyed to Levitan, 3rd Ed.
In Re General Growth Properties, Inc.
Citation:
409 B.R. 43 (2009)Facts
General Growth Properties, Inc. (GGP) was a publicly-traded real estate investment trust and the ultimate parent of approximately 750 subsidiaries that primarily owned and managed shopping centers across the United States. The GGP Group had a complex corporate and capital structure, with approximately $24.85 billion in debt as of December 2008. Much of this debt consisted of mortgage loans secured by individual properties owned by separate subsidiaries, many structured as special purpose entities (SPEs) designed to be bankruptcy remote. These loans typically had three to seven-year terms with balloon payments at maturity, requiring refinancing. The GGP Group’s business model depended on its ability to refinance these loans as they matured. However, in late 2008, the collapse of the credit markets, particularly the commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) market, made refinancing impossible. Despite efforts to obtain new financing or sell assets, the company was unable to meet its obligations. By April 2009, $1.1 billion of project-level debt had matured with no ability to refinance, and billions more would mature in the coming years. After extensive board meetings and financial analysis, GGP and 387 of its subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 protection, including subsidiaries whose loans were not yet in default but would mature in the next few years.
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