Simon Group has raised the stakes in the battle for bankrupt rival General Growth Properties Inc. by effectively matching a bid from Brookfield Asset Management Inc. and other shareholders.

That leaves the bankruptcy judge to decide which bid he prefers on 29 April, to take GGP out of bankruptcy. Simon Property Group Inc. has the edge on valuation because its offer with hedge fund Paulson & Co. injects the same amount of cash but forgoes warrants demanded by the Brookfield consortium worth hundreds of millions of dollars. However, it also comes with an added risk: antitrust scrutiny.

In fact, Simon has agreed to limit its voting control to 20% in an attempt to avoid the attention of the Federal Trade Commission. That wouldn't be surprising, given that Simon and GGP are the two largest American mall operators.

Wall Street Journal