Morgan Stanley, Starwood prepare bid for Centro’s U.S. shopping malls

Morgan Stanley’s global real estate fund and Starwood Capital Group are planning a joint bid for the U.S. shopping centers owned by troubled Australian landlord Centro Properties Group, according to Bloomberg News. Centro, whose roughly 600 U.S. properties were 88.3 percent leased as of June 30, put its assets on the block after falling victim to its own overzealous U.S. buying spree during the real estate boom. Among Centro’s properties are several malls in South Florida, including Century Plaza Shopping Center in Deerfield Beach and Cobblestone Village I and II in Royal Palm Beach. Tenants include T.J. Maxx and Marshalls parent company TJX as well as grocery giant Kroger. As the Wall Street Journal previously reported, Morgan Stanley and Starwood join the Blackstone Group and a consortium led by Lend Lease Group and NRSD Equity Partners, who are also reportedly preparing bids of roughly $8 billion for Centro’s debt and $9.5 billion for the book value of its shopping malls. Morgan Stanley raised $4.7 billion for its new global real estate fund last June. [Bloomberg]