General Growth Properties Inc. is expected next week to name the members of the board who will take command when the No. 2 U.S. mall owner emerges from bankruptcy protection, and its chairman John Bucksbaum, son of one of the co-founders, will not be on it, a source close to the company said on Thursday.
The new board will include John Schreiber, former partner and senior advisor at the Blackstone Group LP, which is slated to have a 7.6 percent stake when General Growth emerges from bankruptcy, said the source, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.
The existing board is expected to approve three candidates already named by investor Brookfield Asset Management Inc.: Brookfield Asset Management chief executive officer Bruce Flatt, Brookfield Asset Management senior managing partner Cyrus Madon and Brookfield Properties Corp. CEO Richard Clark, the source said. Madon heads Brookfield Asset Management’s restructuring and lending activity.
Brookfield has said that Flatt would become chairman of the new General Growth.
Bucksbaum, the company’s former chief executive and son of co-founder Matthew Buckbaum, was at the helm when General Growth piled on debt that led to it becoming the largest U.S. real estate bankruptcy when it filed in April 2009. It is expected to emerge from bankruptcy in November.
John Schreiber is Co-Founder and Partner, Blackstone Real Estate Advisors, currently.
Blackstone rocks.