Simon Property Group’s plan to invest in bankrupt rival General Growth Properties raises antitrust concerns that would hurt the mall owner after it reorganizes, Brookfield Asset Management said.

A plan by Brookfield and its partners, Fairholme Capital Management and Pershing Square Capital Management, to bring General Growth out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy is less risky than the competing proposal by Simon, Brookfield Chief Executive Officer J. Bruce Flatt said in a letter to General Growth Chairman John Bucksbaum, CEO Adam Metz and President Tom Nolan.

“We believe that a significant toe-hold position by GGP’s largest direct competitor will be a material ongoing impediment to the prosperity of the company,” Flatt said in the letter, obtained by Bloomberg News. In addition to “actual and perceived conflicts” from the stake, “a significant shareholding by Simon will inevitably create uncertainty as to whether GGP will remain an independent company for any length of time,” he said in the seven-page letter, dated yesterday.

bloomberg.com