General Growth settles L.A. lawsuit for $48 million

General Growth Corp., the second- largest U.S. shopping mall owner, said it will pay $48 million to resolve a lawsuit brought by a developer that had accused it of interfering with a competing retail project.

Chicago-based General Growth, which has lost 96 percent of its value in the past year and is selling assets to pay debt, owed Caruso Affiliated Holdings LLC $89.2 million in compensatory and punitive damages after losing a 2007 trial in Los Angeles.

The "settlement allows us to put this matter behind us and focus on the company's ongoing operations and strategic evaluations," Adam Metz, interim chief executive officer for General Growth, said today in a statement.

The state court jury had found that General Growth acted with malice when it tried to prevent restaurateur Cheesecake Factory Inc. from signing a lease at Caruso's project, located near the Glendale Galleria mall in California that General Growth co-owned.

The agreement ends an appeal from the trial, the company said in the statement.

The case is Caruso Affiliated Holdings LLC v. General Growth Properties, EC038518, Los Angeles Superior Court.