By Thekiso Anthony Lefifi

Capital Shopping Centres, the UK-based retail arm of what used to be Liberty International, has revised the terms of its proposed acquisition of Manchester's Trafford Centre from Peel Holdings.

The proposed acquisition is strongly opposed by Capital's 5% shareholder, US property group Simon Property Group.

Capital has also moved to rebuff Simon's £2.9-billion takeover bid offer. Simon has until Wednesday to formalise its 425 pence-a-share offer.

David Fischel, the chief executive of Capital, said: "Now is not the right time to sell." He added that the board was adamant that Simon's proposal was "opportunistic and inadequate".

Capital has put a new valuation on its total assets of £4.2-billion.

It now plans to pay 400 pence a share for the Trafford Centre, which boasts 230 stores. This is higher than the 368 pence a share as originally proposed.

"It's a much better deal for shareholders," said Fischel.

As a result, the number of shares Peel will receive has fallen from 224.1 million to 205.9 million. Peel will end up holding a 23.2% stake in Capital instead of 24.7% as previously stipulated.

The revised offer comes ahead of a general meeting on January 26.

According to Capital, the Trafford Centre is the "best" shopping centre in the UK outside of London and the south-east.

The company has a £4.9-billion portfolio of 13 shopping centres, nine of which are in major UK cities.

Source: Business Times