General Growth: Our goals 'not aligned' with Simon's

General Growth Properties Inc., the bankrupt mall owner Simon Property Group Inc. is trying to buy, said the companies have different objectives and invited Simon to participate in a bidding contest.

Simon, based in Indianapolis, earlier this week offered to buy General Growth out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy for more than $10 billion. Chicago-based General Growth responded that Simon's offer was too low and said it would invite other bids by the beginning of next month.

"Understandably, your objectives are not aligned with ours," General Growth Chief Executive Officer Adam Metz said today in a four-sentence letter to Simon Property CEO David Simon. "We hope you will, nonetheless, participate in our process."

General Growth filed the biggest real-estate bankruptcy in U.S. history in April after amassing $27 billion in debt making acquisitions. The company may raise $1 billion to $2 billion from public markets to fund its exit from bankruptcy, Reuters reported today, citing a person familiar with the situation that it didn't identify.

Parties including Brookfield Asset Management are interested in financing General Growth rather than purchasing it, Reuters said.

In a letter to Metz sent yesterday, David Simon said General Growth's plan to invite bids is risky for General Growth investors and that only Simon's offer "provides a full cash recovery for unsecured creditors."

"As we have previously stated, our objective is to maximize value for the company and its stakeholders and we are engaging in a process that is intended to accomplish that result in an expeditious manner," Metz wrote in the letter today, which was distributed via Business Wire.

Les Morris, a Simon spokesman, didn't immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.