NEW YORK (Reuters) - Mall owner Washington Prime Group Inc is preparing to seek bankruptcy protection as soon as this week after the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to temporarily close some of its roughly 100 shopping centers across the United States and businesses were unable to pay it rent, people familiar with the matter said.
The Columbus, Ohio-based company, formed in 2014 following a spin-off from mall giant Simon Property Group Inc, owns properties that include open-air town centers and enclosed malls, with roughly a third concentrated in the Midwest. Its tenants include brand-name retailers pushed to the brink by the pandemic, such as J.C. Penney Co Inc, which filed for bankruptcy last year. Other tenants include retailers that borrowed money last year to bolster their finances during the crisis such as Bed Bath & Beyond Inc and Macy's Inc.
The real estate investment trust's consideration of a Chapter 11 court restructuring to rework roughly $4 billion of debt marks the latest company in the broader retail landscape to wilt under a global public health crisis that kept U.S. shoppers home for months on end.