Simon Property Group's offer to buy General Growth Properties out of bankruptcy for more than $10bn may start a bidding war for the company, the owner of four out of five of the best-performing US malls.

Simon’s proposal would give equity investors about $9 a share. William Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management, General Growth’s largest shareholder, said in December the stock is worth $24 to $43. That may spur companies including Brookfield Asset Management, which owns General Growth debt, to place a higher bid, said Jim Sullivan, an analyst with real estate research firm Green Street Advisors.

bloomberg.com, Wall Street Journal